Our Plan for Greater and More Effective Use

In alignment with our district goal of "developing a plan for greater and more effective use of technology by students and staff in their direct work", classroom teachers spent a half day learning more about technology and how to integrate it into their classrooms most effectively. Along with the campus ITS, teachers explored several technology tools, discovered how they were aligned to the Texas Technology TEKS, and made plans for implementation in the classroom. We continued to learn more about Google, specifically Google Drive, Promethean ActivInspire to refine our use of interactive whiteboards and student response devices, online collaboration and learning environments, and various web 2.0 tools. The campus ITS will continue to support the teachers beyond their training day, co-teaching with them as well as offering in class lessons.

New Technology TEKS for Students

Texas has adopted new Technology TEKS beginning in the 2012 school year.  It defines the technology literacy and integration requirements for students, teachers, and librarians. The new standards are:

• Creative thinking and innovative processes to construct knowledge and develop products
• Communicate and collaborate both locally and globally to reinforce and promote learning
• Research and information fluency includes the acquisition and evaluation of digital content
• Develop critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills by collecting, analyzing, and reporting digital information
• Digital citizenship by behaving responsibly while using technology tools and resources
• The study of technology operations and concepts, students learn technology related terms, concepts, and data input strategies

These technology standards help to ensure that students and educators gain and apply critical 21st Century digital knowledge and skills across the curriculum. Click here for a full description of the new Technology TEKS.