The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 is a plan that is shared by school districts across the state to implement technology in the classroom for student learning. The plan has different areas of focus in which to attain goals. I believe that the area of Educator Preparation and Development is one of the most important areas in which to improve upon. Professional development is vital to classroom teachers in order for them to better understand technology and find ways to incorporate it in their classrooms for student learning.
In this area, my campus was assessed and given a developing technology level of progress. This means that technology is used for administrative tasks and classroom management. There are minimal use of online resources and administrators expect teachers to use technology. Seventy-four percent of campuses in the state of Texas fall in this category. Nationally, states have set the bar high in this area through the use of professional development. Our state and our campus are currently improving professional development for educators in order to keep up with the progress of the nation.
My campus is trying improve upon this area through means of professional development for teachers. We understand how important it is for teachers to learn new technology as it is fast changing and student demanding. The state has provided districts with standards for professional development. Educators and Leaders alike are required to attain a recommended amount of hours per year for professional development and growth. This tends to be the trend as a nation as states struggle to meet the demands of the No Child Left Behind Laws.
I believe that in order for my campus to improve in this area that our professional development should be more specific oriented. We are required by the state to attend professional development training courses and workshops. We are not required to attend technology workshops nor do we have to have a certain amount of hours in the area of technology. This would really be beneficial to my campus, educators, and to the state in order to keep up with nationally and more importantly worldly trends. This would contribute to reaching our goals as a campus, as a state, and as a nation.