Week 2 Part 2

Leadership is the area of focus I have dissected for the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. Since I plan on taking on an administrative role within the next few years of my education career, I figured it would be best to spend time becoming familiar with the demands and expectations in the area of technology. To be quite frank, I was overwhelmed. There has been much time and attention set aside by the Texas Education Agency and State Board of Education (TEA and SBEC) in the area of technology advancement. I found that the following categories fall on the shoulders of educational leaders: vision, planning, instructional support, communication and collaboration, budget, and online learning opportunities. Within these categories I found that the most progress has to be driven from the local level. For example, within a school district the vision, planning and budgeting must be addressed before the students will be able to seek gains from technology. Most students at the high school level perceived technology taking a higher priority in education within the next four years. Once local agencies (districts and campuses) are able to move forward with planning and budgeting, then teachers can begin implementing the technology on their end by integrating instruction. Other trends I discovered was the push from the state level. Governor Rick Perry and TEA Commissioner Robert Scott are prepared to push the technology movement forward. Since the expiration of the 1988-2000 Long Range Plan, SBEC and TEA have made a priority of keeping a vision of how to move technology in a parallel direction with education. Despite having a large task on our hands, discovering more avenues for technology applications will be exciting and rewarding for our students.