EDLD 5352 Instructional Development, Week 2, Part 2 Opinion Piece

I feel the area that our campus, and probably campuses across the state, needs to work on is the area of Educator Preparation & Development. Teachers do not integrate as much technology as they can into their curriculum and that has been supported by our campus STaR Chart and in the reading material that we have read for this course. Teachers are lacking in designing their curriculum to include different components of technology so that students can experience tailored to their specific needs, which is not to imply using a laptop to research and then make a presentation, but more advanced applications they can learn from and use every day. I believe our classrooms today are not ready for the classrooms of the future and teachers definitely are not properly prepared. Teachers need to authentically engage their students more using technology but they also need planning time and professional development to help in designing their curriculum to include appropriate technology. Online learning is part of that futuristic approach to learning and I have not seen any approach to that in our high schools or those across the state. I acknowledge many school are implemented measures toward technology improvement that exceed our current efforts, but yet do not believe we have reached the expectations put forth in Vision 2020. I do believe other countries such as China and India are making greater strides, as indicated in the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology than that of the United States and thus should increase our sense of urgency. As our nation, states, and local school districts plan for the next 10 years and beyond, they must focus on implementation of technology in the classroom through increased focus on staff development focused on how teachers can effectively implement technology. Should we choose any other course; we will only continue to lag behind other nations.