Week 1, Part 3

For this part of the assignment I had to read the Long-Range Plan for Technology. This was interesting. I remember vaguely hearing about this plan in the past but really had no prior knowledge about what it consisted of and what it meant for educators. At first I thought, "This is like a campus plan. A plan is written, it's looked at periodically and that's it." However, I found this to be different. Of course, I do feel part of it is true. Teachers and administrators take the StaR test once a year and teachers most likely don't think of it after that time but I now see that administrators probably view it differently. Overall it's great, it's the ideal situation. Is it reasonable? The committee must think so. I feel that it depends on all stakeholders. If everyone follows all the recommendations and funding is adequate then the vision can be met. Yet if the recommendations aren't followed and funding falls short then our student's technology learning will most likely fall short.

The plan definitely gives compelling reason why we must change and grow in the 21st Century. The quote under State of Urgency really opened my eyes.

"In 2001, India graduated almost a million more students from college than the United States did. China graduates twice as many students with bachelor's degrees as the U.S., and they have six times as many graduates majoring in engineering." Source: Thomas Friedman The World is Flat

What does this mean for our students? Are we failing them? What other factors play into those statistics? Whatever the answer, I know that as an Instructional Leader I must help our campus move forward and make the change. First and foremost this means I must change. I must be a model. Keeping this vision in the forefront of my mind will help me do this. The older I get the more things I find I have posted around me. I don't want this to be one of those "out of sight, out of mind" thoughts.