Week 2 assignment; Posting #1
The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 is a comprehensive strategic plan that all states are required to submit to the United States Department of Education. It is divided into four domains: Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support; and Infrastructure for Technology. Every year teachers rate the domains and the results are published. Texas results are posted on the Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary. Depending on the total rating score, each domain is classified as Early Tech, Developing Tech, Advanced Tech or Target Tech. There is value in assessing educators' technology leadership knowledge and skills because our students are facing a continual change in technology innovation and use.
While each domain is important, I value "Infrastructure for Technology" more. The reason is because without the infrastructure the other domains can be irrelevant. "...the infrastructure of a school is the critical element of support for all four areas of this plan..." (p. 35). The section describing this domain states that a infrastructure system will provide for equitable student access, technical assistance, secure and accurate data measures, and data standards. In our current era of data-driven decision making, the infrastructure for technology becomes very important.
The pros of this domain include having information at your fingertips that was not readily available not so long ago. We now have access to a wealth of information that can lead to more effective teaching and successful learning opportunities. Many tasks can be done in a fraction of the time that it used to take, thus leaving valuable time for other educational duties. One of the cons of today's technology is the school's budget. Technology does not come cheap and many schools are already adjusting budgets to manage reducing funds. Some view dependence as another con. There are some who think that we have come too dependant on "machines" and that somehow we are loosing out. An example of this would be technology replacing textbooks. I personally do not share this perception. I think that some are just not comfortable with the fast-paced changes that are taking place.
Luckily, "Infrastructure" is my district's strongest domain. We still have room for improvement, but by having an adequate, current infrastructure in technology, we are on the right track for the future of our students.
