Educator Preparation and Development

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology is a comprehensive plan that aspires to raise the expectations and proficiencies of students, educators, parents and community and school board members. The area that I would like to comment on is the section that addresses Educator Preparation and Development.

Appropriate and meaningful teacher preparation is critical for student success. Teacher preparation could be divided into two sections: new teacher development and veteran teacher preparation. New teachers, regardless of age are more likely to be more familiar with and more proficient in the usage of various technology tools as many technology tools are an integral part of university level coursework. These teachers will most likely graduate from these programs proficient in the effective use of technology for teaching and learning and ready to develop new learning environments that utilize and integrate appropriate technology in innovative ways.

Veteran teachers should be trained on the use and integration of current technology tools and resources and effective strategies to fully and actively engage students in learning. Not only must veteran teachers be well trained in technology usage and integration they must also be comfortable with the use of the technology that they will be integrating. If a certain level of comfort with a technology tool or application isn’t reached, it’s unlikely that the teacher will actually use it in the classroom. In addition to professional development for classroom applications, both types of teachers should be encouraged to continually increase their personal learning through additional professional development or continuing education.

On the national, state and local levels teachers are being trained on the usage and integration of current technology tools and resources. But more importantly teachers are learning how to actively engage students (for whom technology tool usage is first nature) in information evaluation, problem solving projects, cooperative learning and global communications that will enable them to be competitive in the new global economy.

A prevailing trend on the national, state and local levels seems to be: purchase the technology and then train teachers. This makes sense until funding constraints are taken into consideration. If consistent funding is not available, then the technology infrastructure cannot be created, maintained and enhanced. On the other hand, if teachers are trained on the use and integration of a technology tool and don’t have the tool to utilize then the training was in vain.

I believe that for students to be successful, teachers must not only have access to the needed technology tools and resources, but also access to meaningful, hands on professional development that leaves them feeling knowledgeable and confident in the integration of the technology tool into the curriculum. The integration of technology should transform the learning experience for both the students and the teachers.