4. the teacher voice in the long-range plan

The goal of education is to provide students the necessary tools to become thinking, contributing members of a 21st century world. The Long-Range Plan has set the guidelines to continue to provide a challenging curriculum but with the digital tools of today and tomorrow as a major part of the learning process.
Part of the Long-Range Plan involved a survey of 5,000 Texas teachers on the use of technology in lessons and to aid in everyday work tasks. In the area of professional development, Texas teachers are comparable to national percentages, including all wanting more in terms of how to use technology in lessons. I have to agree with this. My campus has done a decent job getting the infrastructure in place, especially wireless connections to all parts of the school, establishing four computer labs and six mobile labs. We have also purchased licenses to software specifically targeted to students who do not pass the TAKS test, as well as providing credit recovery opportunities online. In the past two years the campus has purchased classroom sets and heavily encouraged the use of CPS, or “clickers” as we call them, for instant feedback within lessons and data collection for unit tests. This is better than many campuses and districts however, beyond the one 30 minute how to use the “clickers” and here are a few examples of how to use them in class, there has been no other follow up sessions on integrating them into class lessons. This is where our campus fails teachers and students. Comparable to the survey, most teachers on campus us computers for administrative tasks, grades, corresponding with parents and other teachers and using search engines. Just as the survey indicates, more emphasis needs to be on how teachers can integrate digital tools into lessons so that we continue to see the rise in student engagement and achievement as noted in the survey.