Teacher preparation and development are two of the great challenges Texas faces today. Teacher preparation needs to be relevant to the 21st century if Texas is to fulfill its Long Range Plan. Teachers need to be well equipped with skills necessary to handle technology tools which they are expected to use in 21st century classrooms. Staff development should be geared towards helping teachers acquire current knowledge in using technology.
The 2007-2008 statistics found in the Campus Statewide Summary showed a majority of teachers fall under the developing tech level of progress. This showed that the use of technology by teachers were not maximized and was limited to administrative tasks such as emails and classroom management.
There is an immediate and great need to push to a higher level of progress. My recommendation would be to make it mandatory for teachers to fulfill a certain number of staff development hours to be spent on technology applications. Teachers should be given more preparation time so they can practice their technology skills. Budget allocation for staff development should be increased. Technology integration into lessons should be given more weight in the PDAS in order to challenge teachers to implement it.
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