Educator Preparation and Development

Students need to be equipped to survive and gain knowledge in the 21st Century and teachers need to tools and resources to get them there. We have become a culture that is increasingly needy of technology. Technology plays a major role in providing our students with the skills needed to be successful. It is extremely important that Texas provide educators with preparation and development opportunities for growth in the area of technology. Technology is a part of everyday life for students and teachers need the knowledge and skills to help students achieve technology literacy.

It has been a remarkable challenge to the state and to the entire nation in securing time, resources, and effective models for educator preparation and development with respect to technology. It has now become possible for distance learning for educators to occur. Texas has provided educators with many opportunities for growth and development. Because educators are using the technology for their own learning they will have greater skills with the technological tools available and with the application of those tools in an instructional setting. Educators are more likely to use technology in their own classrooms if they are engaged with technology in their own professional and personal development .

“Texas educators and librarians showed slight gains in the area of Educator Preparation on the Texas Teacher STaR Chart when comparing the past two years—from September 2006 to August 2008.” (Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020)

The district in which I am employed has gone to great lengths to insure that professional development is available to all teachers both on line and in the classroom setting. If I had to recommend ways to improve the delivery and retention of technological skills for educators, it would be to require educators to continually apply information gained during professional development. I have seen too many time teachers go to workshops and then never use the technology again. Many teachers think that the state requirement of becoming proficient and advanced in the area of technology only means they need to pass a test and not apply technology in the classroom. Look out teachers! It won’t be long before the state of Texas has a Technology TAKS test for 8th graders. If we as educators learn, do and apply in our classroom than we send a powerful message to our students that technology isn’t a bad thing. After all technology is the direction the word is headed and there’s no stopping it!