My thoughts on Educator Preparation in the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology includes four different areas. I want to focus on the area of Educator Preparation. This area focuses on how educators are specifically using technology within their classrooms. The state wide results show that 74.2% of campuses fall within the Developing Tech description for the 2007-2008 school year. This means that 40 % of teachers are within the SBEC standards. School administrators are equipping their teachers to use the technology within their rooms and expect them to. Nebbie Williams is the school that I studied for local scores in this area. They received a description of Advanced Tech in this area. They are doing well as they prove to be above the state standard in this area. National trends are lower than Nebbie Williams. Many schools still need to be outfitted with current technology. Budget money must be properly allocated for this to happen. I do believe that parents want their children to use the latest technology available. Children are very accustomed to using all different types of media by the time they enter school. Our schools need to take Educator Preparation seriously as our teachers need to be using the technology to teach today's students. I would recommend that more money be set aside in school budgets for technology. Schools need to collaborate with neighboring districts to see what is working and what is not in terms of technology in the classroom. The state and national numbers will increase in educator preparation if teachers use technology in their classrooms. Teachers need to be confident and willing in their use of technology. The students cannot wait to use technology and expect it in schools. This is an issue that cannot be ignored and I am confident that it is being addressed.