Texas Long Range Plan for Teachnology

Educator Preparation and Development is vital part of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. If teachers are not trained properly then they will be unable to teach our students to be technology literate. “Teachers must be able to prepare students for their future in a manner that assures that all students will not simply survive, but truly thrive in the world that awaits them.” Continuous professional learning is essential for all in the education field in that everything we teach is directly related to the experiences that are brought to the classroom. Teachers have got to be taught how to bring technology into the curriculum and lesson cycle itself. Teachers currently coming out of college with an education degree should have mastered all of SBEC’s technology requirements before entering the classroom to teach. The current professional core of educators needs to be re-tooled to ensure they have the technological expertise to meet the changing needs of the 21st century. This requires time, resources and effective models – and this is a tremendous challenge for all. Professional learning should include new ways to teach, instructional strategies that reflect current research and classroom assessments that effectively measure what students are learning.
Administrators must believe in the importance of technology in the classroom and develop that importance with their teachers. The role of professional development is to teach teachers how to transform their teaching and learning, to renew and invigorate their passion for teaching. This section ended with recommendation to TEA, SBEC, the Regional Education Service, Local Education Agencies, Texas Higher Education and Parents, Communities and Private Sector compelling all parties to activity do their part on ensuring technology education is brought to the level that is needed to take our US students into the global 21st Century.