Educator Preparation and Development

While reading the “Educator Preparation and Development” section of Texas Long Range Plan for Technology I was reminded of an educational joke I heard about Rip Van Winkle. After a hundred years of sleeping, Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st Century. All things seem unfamiliar until he walks into a classroom, as he enter the classroom he states “This is a school”. This joke indicates to me that over the years; as things around us change the methods of classroom instruction have not, methods of instructional delivery seem to be frozen in time. Because students of today have grown up with technology which in one way or another touch every aspect of their lives, educators must take note of these changes and be prepared to adjust what we teach and how we teach it. To better prepare our students to flourish with knowledge and to help them acquire the skills required to become successful citizens, workers and leaders in today’s world, educators need a variety of tools to keep students engaged in learning.

To help all educators adjust or change their instructional procedures school districts should provide on-going professional development programs that include various ways to integrate technology into the curriculum. Institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs should be required to encompass classes that provide opportunities’ to help student learn to create motivating instructional material that integrates technology. These programs should be geared toward helping the instructor enhance instructional procedures that provide new and innovating ways to integrate technology into their curriculum at all grade levels. The instructional technologist, on our campus provides continuous professional development opportunities that allow our staff to create and provide exciting instructional materials using technology. Also each teacher is asked to involve students in a minimum of three technology activities (projects) per school year to assure that all students are involved in accomplishing the technology TEKS for their grade level.

As it is our responsibility as educators to do our best to promote student learning, the Texas Long Range Plans for Technology can serve as a guideline to help in enhancing students’ acquisition of knowledge through technology.