Blog Post #2

I began teaching over twenty years ago. Because of this I was surprised that the first Long Range Technology Plan was written in 1998. I don't remember hearing anything about this in my early years of teaching. At that time we were so focused on TAAS scores that we hardly heard mention of technology. I learned through this progress report about how we are progressing in our technology goals. Some of the progress is in the area of teacher implementation of Technology Applications TEKS. Also, we have seen that high school students have successfully used technology to create educational games using computers, designend newspapers and yearbooks using desktop publishing, developed digital animation and even used video technology to increase achievement in math. Instruction in internet safety is another requirement of the Long Range Technology Plan. Students are expected to be computer literate by eighth grade. There are a number of pilot programs to attempt to increase student computer literacy and to increase student achievement throug the use of technology. One of these is the Technology Literacy Assessment Pilot. This provides an assessment measure of the Technology Applications. It has been found to significantly increase student progress toward achieving technology objectives. One of the pilot programs I found most interesting is the Technology Immersion Pilot. This is a pilot program which provides a laptop for every student, ongoing professional development for teachers, and online resources. Some of the results of this have been that both teachers and students believe that laptops improve student achiement. Also, students report that they use their laptops extensively, both at home and at school. I have heard about this program from several students in my cohort group and it is something I would very much like to have at my school. I found that there are many ways that we are using technology to help increase student achievement.