The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology is a plan that include several topics in order to fully describe. The plan has a vision that by 2020 the students, parents, educators, and community members/board memebers will have successfully implemented the changes. There are three phases for the Long Range plan. Phase I is from 2006-2010. Phase II is from 2011-2015, and phase III is from 2016-2020. As I read over the Long Range Plan for Technology, I realized the great need for this plan. Technology is increasing daily, and today's students have different needs than the students of a few years ago. Change is needed to help students have the education needed for a new breed of jobs that may not even be created yet. These 21st century learners will not benefit from a lecture type of classroom style. Teachers and educators must be familiar with the new types of technologies so that they can give students the education they need. New types of staff development and priorities on campuses are needed to make these changes. Involvement from the administration and all stakeholders must be implemented in order to make Vision 2020 a reality.
At our school, there has been a recent push on technology staff development. There is a technology person whose job is to go to each campus monthly to introduce new websites, programs, and any other educational technology to teachers. She is also there to answer any questions and to meet in small groups to show the teachers how to use the software. I feel these staff developments have helped teachers overcome their fear of technology, and some that may not have tried new programs are starting to use them frequently within their classrooms. Districts will need to move to this type of staff development, not only to get the information out to teachers, but to make them feel comfortable in using new technology.
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