Blog Posting #2

After reviewing the Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, I discovered that the report vastly covers the progress and impact of educational technology programs and initiatives from the period of September 2008 to August 2010. The plan is divided into two major sections. The first section covers the key areas of the LRPT and the second highlights the services provided by educational service centers as recommended in the LRPT. I found it interesting that Texas teacher’s level of progress in the area of Educator Preparation was reported at Early Tech in 2008-09 and Developing Tech in 2009-10. From my experience it has been difficult to get teachers, interested and then trained to implement technology into the classroom. Although a slight decrease, it indicates the teacher’s commitment to preparing 21st Century learners for the present and future information-rich world that awaits them. As it has been my experience, the education programs that I have taken, has prepared me tremendously with the best practices and instructional strategies, which have permitted me with countless opportunities to integrate technology into the teaching and learning process. As reported within the progress plan, Project Share- a collection of Web 2.0 tools and applications designed to build online learning communities is a program my district and local education service center utilizes and has benefitted from. With the increase of professional development courses being offered online, along with online PLC’s, personally I can attest to that this educator preparation tool has resulted in increased collaboration opportunities, ability to engage students in their digital world and most importantly improved student performance. In relation to Project Share, the LRTP progress report identified the teacher trainer model- Intel Teach Program. Currently, my district does not employ this teacher trainer model; however, I believe it is one that would be advantageous to our district, since a recent survey on technology integration, indicated that 57% of teachers learned how to integrate technology and enhanced student learning with the assistance of their colleagues.