Teaching and Learning: A Focus for our Students

Technology has become the focal point of the “21st century learner.” With the national education scene changing rapidly, states and districts must “step up to the plate,” and begin preparing our students for a new wave of life long learning. Across the nation, technology is quickly overtaking the traditional schooling techniques. Progress is being made on the local, state and national levels, but it is not enough. It is time for educators to step up and begin to focus their efforts on preparing our students for their futures. In particular, I feel that educators need to focus on the “Teaching and Learning” portion of Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology. This area focuses on learning for all students in preparation for the 21st century. It includes areas for students to collaboratively learn and expand their classroom beyond the walls of the traditional school. Teachers are encouraged to engage their students in distance learning opportunities and begin serving as more of a facilitator of learning, rather than the sole source of information.

According to the Campus Statewide summary for 2008, this area is one of the weaker areas. Only 26.4% of the schools are classified as either Advanced Tech or Target Tech. Most of the schools, 69.7%, are in the Developing Tech area. The goal, keep in mind, is that by 2020 the majority of schools are in the Target Tech area. This trend holds true for my school as well. According to STaR chart data from the past three years, this has consistently been the lowest area for our campus. Each year has gotten better, but this area has yet to even reach the Advanced Tech stage.

My recommendations for this area are quite simple. The focus of anything we do in education is on student learning. Currently our campus, according to 2008-2009 data, has received an Advanced Tech rating for three of the four areas. We have the infrastructure, our teachers are getting the necessary staff development, and our administration is providing the necessary supports. It is time for teachers to putting into practice the knowledge they are gaining from all of the other supports. I feel that asking teachers to include technological strategies in at the very least one lesson a unit could help tremendously in improving this area. In addition, making data, such as STaR chart data, more available to our teachers, will help them see where improvement is needed.