Teaching and Learning according to the Texas STaR Chart

The vision of the Teaching and Learning portion of the Long-Range plan for Technology, 2006-2020 is that technology will become the great equalizer for the growing diversity represented in the classrooms of Texas public schools. Technology can motivate students and enhance the learning process by providing students and teachers with the tools necessary to bring teaching and learning into the 21st century. The goal is to eliminate the great digital divide by providing students with the instruments and infrastructure to support modern and postmodern learning in an environment that is available and accessible from anywhere and at anytime. Learning will become more individualized and personal. Post modern learning will bring the world to the classroom and expand the classroom beyond the confines of the school building. Today most, if not all schools have Internet access, however many are limited by shared bandwidth and computers. To make learning personal each student needs his own personal device and each campus needs the infrastructure to support wireless high speed connections. Textbooks are becoming outdated as personal learning devices can make them available in a digital format using audio and video components rather than just pictures. Students will be able to highlight notes, record lectures, capture video and collaborate online at anytime with others on classroom projects while also exploring their own interest and documenting their findings. Some of these things are occurring on campuses now including my own campus with the use of ipods, however we must be careful not to put the cart before the horse by buying tech devices with no plan nor purpose of how to integrate them into the learning arena.