The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

As I read through the Long-Range Plan for technology, I realized what an important role the administrator plays in this plan. Creating a shared vision, modeling its use, and making sure appropriate instruction is being implemented is crucial for the 21st Century Learner. The school leader is responsible for making certain that funding for technology is adequate and appropriate. Knowing the state expectations is an important part of an administrators job. It seems that the goals of this plan are quite lofty. Providing access to all teachers, students, parents and the community is quite a respobsibility and expense. I have not seen this in our district to date. The goals are quite impressive. I do believe that today's learners should be global learners. They should have access to appropriate technology, and the ability to communicate with others online. If our state's long-term economic health depends on today's learners, then they should be making certain their plans are being followed. If access is required, then schools must be certain to make this happen. In our district there are so many filters and deep freeze programs on our equipment that it is almost impossible to access needed information in any research attempt. I know that when I started in our district fifteen years ago we were leading our area in our ability to access the Internet and our student/computer ratio. Now, I feel that we have fallen behind because of lack of funding, and the fears of those in charge of our technology. It is all well and good to make these recommendations and to set lofty goals, but we need to see this happen in reality. The state needs to "put its money where its mouth is" in order to meet the needs of the 21st Century Learner. The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 Retrieved from: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/lrpt_lrpt.html