Texas Long Range Plan for Technology: Opinion Piece on Teaching and Learning

The Teaching and Learning area of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 focuses on ensuring that all students are successful as a life-long learner, communicator, and contributing member of our 21st Century society.
Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) define what students need to know and be able to do in our information-based economy. As technology is ever-changing, students require these TEKS to meet their needs technologically, focusing on connections to student’s lives, real-life problem-solving skills, critical thinking and collaborative learning. Technology integration allows all students equal access to a quality education, “transforming the teaching process by allowing for greater levels of interest, inquiry, analysis, collaboration, creativity, and content production” (Long Rangel Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, p. 18). Furthermore, the technology is there for the teachers to support their efforts in teaching and learning as well. At the state level, Texas has taken great effort to provide all students with technological skills for success in our digital world. The majority of our state educators are still in the developing stages of being facilitators, mentors, and learners; progress is being made in the right direction. My campus does a great job of utilizing electronic resources for formative and summative evaluations as we monitor student progress, growth, and trends, with data available 24/7. Technology has become the communication tool for all schools, and implementation is an ongoing project; technology is critical in the success of our leaders of the future. Reflecting on teaching and learning, I realize how students are actively involved in the learning process. We, as educators, must afford students opportunities to help us learn together through technology. Change is inevitable; there will always be resistance. Although there are challenges that impact the teaching and learning process, curriculum alignment and flexibility to new teaching methods will ensure the integration is effective as we move forward and allow students to help us change with the demands of technology and the advances.