Week 2 Assignment - Blog #2

When reading the progress report for the Texas long range technology plan there was not too much that surprised me about the data that they received. For the most part students are utilizing technology in order to research, take on-line classes, and playing learning games. From what I reviewed it feels as if students are not actually using the technology as much as the teachers are. While this is a step in the right direction to have the teachers setting an example, I do not feel that we have reached a true immersion of technology into the classrooms and we have a long ways to go. I found the report on the immersion classrooms very interesting because it shows the impact that technology can have if it is utilized correctly. What stood out to me the most was that students who were in the immersion classrooms showed that they “experience slightly more intellectually demanding work.” The progress report also showed that these students performed higher on their TAKS tests. In my opinion this shows the direction that our classrooms should be moving. It is much easier to justify this immersion in the elementary classrooms, but if often feels there is hesitation when it comes to the secondary schools. Now that there is evidence that this is helpful to the 21^st century learners it is crucial that schools create a plan to get this technology to our older students. I find it ridiculous that our high school students are not allowed to use laptop computers and wireless devices in the classroom. As soon as these students enter college and the real world these tools will be a central part of their daily learning and jobs.