The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology is admirable. It has a well-defined vision that states the need for creating such a "long-range" road map for the information-age student. It is well researched, gives professional development tools, while clearly stating instructional support and infrastructure needed to produce technologically savvy students who can compete on the world stage. However, it is just that, a plan. In many aspects, it is lacking because it does not take into consideration the socioeconomic status of students, their families or the funding available to schools. Technology is very expensive, in addition, the budget crises many schools and school districts face make it considerably difficult to meet the infrastructural demands of this "plan". The plan also stresses the values of "distributed learning environments" that is, other avenues outside of school that can enhance students technological knowledge, in other words, their homes. With 54.60% of Texas students categorized as economically disadvantaged, it is almost impossible for the so-called distributed learning environments to be truly effective. The plan is not all bad, it provides step by step strategies that will over time bridge Texas students over to where they need to be. Our state is at the front of many others when it comes to this sort of planning and there have been indications of progress which I believe stems from aligning the plan to the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills).