The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 has four key areas to assist the state, districts, and schools evaluate how they are progressing toward being sufficient to teaching 21st Century learners. In examination of the School Technology and Readiness (STaR) data for my campus, it was easy to identify that my school was below state progress in the Infrastructure key area. This area includes determining a computer:student ratio, adequate internet access, connectivity speed, technical assistance, other available technology resources, LAN/WAN resources, and distance learning capacity.
My elementary campus scored in the Developing Tecnnology range while the state fell into the Advanced Technology descriptor. I believe Franklin Elementary scored this classification because we do not have a large number of working, updated computers in our classroom. We have one computer lab with about 20 computers and most teachers have one or two older functioning computers in their classrooms - totaling 80 computers on campus. Our campus has approximately 550 students which means that about 7 students would access the same computer. When teachers do integrate the technology in their lessons, the computers freeze up, do not have the appropriate programs, or are not adequately connected to printers or other technology resources. We do not have a computer lab assistant or technology troubleshooter on our campus, so we must rely on the district helpdesk to assist when trouble occurs. With a lot of prayer, perhaps a district technology representative will answer and assist you over the phone but most likely not. We have 2 digital cameras and 8 campus printers. Our librarian has the only interactive white board on campus and have limited access to LCD projectors and laptops.
The Texas STaR Chart document (2006) lists some of our above mentioned technology problems as similar challenges to other schools within the state. Not all districts, campuses, and classrooms have adequate tools that are needed to integrate technology with real-life learning. Teacher and trouble shooting support will need to be on the forefront of a campus' budgetary needs. Maintenance of the technology is imperative since technology is changing and improving at such a rapid rate.
It is my recommendation that the campus analyze the trends in the STaR chart data to determine which changes are most feasible to make in a short amount of time and with limited budget. The campus did feel more at ease with technology two years ago when there was a technology assistant available on campus. Perhaps this is a possible addition to our growing budgetary needs - more help! The campus leadership team should also look into grants and opportunities for the district and outside community organizations to assist in donations and funding.
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Your blog is looking good! It's interesting too see the differences just within our school district. I know my school was able to secure some grants and that's how we got most of our equipment. The next step for us is to get teachers to be efficient in using the resources that we have.
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