Technology Assessment

     We live in a time when information and the technology that brings us information are integrated into our lives.  Education and curriculum has always been reflective or molded to reflect the needs of society.  In order to mold education to fit the needs of society now and in the future a thorough assessment of technology, technology use and knowledge is needed.

    The value that should be most obvious in having a technology assessment is that it gives you a starting place.  In fact, it may identify several starting places for making improvements in technology or technology development.  Having a technology assessment should be the first step in developing a technology plan or making changes to an existing one.  An assessment will identify areas of weakness, areas of strength and, in the case of an existing technology plan, areas that need tweaking.  A good assessment will also help to identify resources, both intellectual and monetary.  Here are some examples of how the “Texas Campus STaR Chart can be used:

• To create and/or update the district’s technology plan.
• To help conceptualize your campus or district vision of technology.
• To set benchmarks and goals. Campuses and districts may use the chart to identify current education technology profiles, establish goals, and monitor progress.
• To measure student and teacher proficiencies with regard to the integration of technology into all content areas.” (http://starchart.esc12.net/docs/TxCSC.pdf)

     There are pros and cons to a technology assessment.  One pro is a technology assessment gives you a lot of information towards setting standards and goals for a technology plan, but also meeting standards and goals as in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  “The act requires that all students be technology literate by the eighth grade (http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/qkey3.pdf)”.  Having an assessment helps determine the playing field and players you have which leads to the next step, a technology plan to meet the NCLB requirement.  The only cons to doing a technology assessment I can think of is finding out how much ground you have to make up to bring technology, curriculum and teacher knowledge up to meet the standards being set by the state.  If you have limited resources this can be very discouraging, but a good enough reason not to do an assessment.