Infrastructure for Technology-The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020-An Opinion

A technology infrastructure for Texas schools is defined as having the ability to access high-speed connectivity among schools, colleges, medical facilities, libraries, businesses, and homes and will be equipped with an appropriate amount of digital tools and resources that would satisfy the educational needs for all learners. All Texas school districts must have a technology infrastructure that is safe and secure, flexible, scalable, and reliable. This infrastructure will provide easy access to tools that will allow students and teachers to access online information and materials, do collaborative work and share resources. A strong sense of community will be created with this technology framework that is conducive to a multitude of projects and should enhance learning beyond the normal classroom environment. The human resource area will be staffed with an appropriate number of skilled individuals that will be available to ensure the reliability of the technical environment and support the effective uses of technology in instruction and curriculum delivery. In my opinion, the technological infrastructure of a campus and or district is the critical element of support for all four areas of this plan: teaching and learning; educator preparation and development; leadership, administration and instructional support; and infrastructure for technology.

As computers and technology converge and are added to a school district, the investment has to include an increased number of technicians to maintain and service the equipment and software such as the servers, routers, switches, firewalls, storage, backups and recovery, e-mail, spam and content filtering, web hosting, wired and wireless connectivity infrastructure, security, telecommunications and Internet access, updates and upgrades, Intranet services, and more. In addition, the expanded use of the networks by students, teachers, administrators, and parents for digital data casting, video-streaming, teleconferencing, distance learning, 24/7 access, online student and district records, communications with parents, and much more require that districts provide sophisticated district-level staff to provide technical as well as instructional support. Infrastructure and related technical support is essential to sustainable immersion of technology in schools and should be provided for as "dedicated" funding in both state and local technology budgets. A dedicated infrastructure and related technical support allotment of $35 per student as noted by the State of Texas and is needed to provide these essential functions.

The data examined does exemplify the fact that my school district in every instance (with the exception of 2008-2009, as no state or national data was available) has exceeded expectations that the state and national education oversight authorities have set for our schools. The data trends logically and parallels the funding available to the students from local, state, and national sources. Even though the score to target decreased in the past year the drop is still a positive one; if there is such a thing as retreat to win. The drop simply underscores the high level of stewardship my district has placed on prudent planning all-the-while meeting district and campus expectations as academic scores increased from TEA Acceptable in years 2005-2007, to TEA Recognized status in 2007-2008. Even though our Technology Infrastructure scores decreased for the past year, they still outstripped state and national averages based upon the trending of the previous three years.

For my school as well as the state and national education communities to continue a positive trend regarding the technology infrastructure in my opinion, will require a frugal as well as academically demanding mindset from our leaders at all levels that addresses new and emerging technology. In other words, we must do more with the resources we have at our campuses absent future budget allocations to technology. In that respect, I would recommend that our school leaders initiate now a creative as well as innovative funding plan for this is the critical component for future technology advancements.