Technology Assessments

Technology’s role in education is rapidly expanding and has been doing so for some time. Schools at all levels today are either rapidly implementing new learning technologies into the classroom or are leading the push to expand technology’s role in their school. Either way, technology is quickly becoming a major aspect of learning, with the state of Texas requiring technology standards to be implemented in all subjects and assessments of students’ grasp of technology is to be conducted in 5th and 8th grade. Because of this, it is imperative that the students are taught by teachers who have a strong understanding of how to educational technology.


A modern teacher should have high knowledge of their area of teaching as well as educational technology, due not only to the requirement that the Technology TEKS be implemented across all learning subjects, but also due to the fact that students are expected to have mastered those TEKS by the end of 8th grade. Therefore, it is imperative that educators continuously have their technology leadership knowledge and skills assessed, as teachers who are strong in these areas can better focus on areas where they might be weak, and those that are very weak can begin improving immediately through professional development and hands-on experience. A teacher who is weak in technology knowledge will not be very effective in the modern classroom. With many students falling further behind and eventually dropping out due to lack of knowledge or understanding, a teacher needs to understand how to use educational technology to help make learning easier and more engaging for students

Not only is it necessary for teacher’s technology knowledge to be continually assessed, it is also necessary for student’s knowledge to be assessed as well. All students have different ways of learning, and the new and developing learning technologies enable most, if not all, different learning styles to be addressed in one lesson. If the students are shown to be weak in their use or understanding of how to use learning technology, they face the prospect of not learning very effectively and falling further and further behind their fellow students who are stronger in their knowledge of how to use technology. If, for example, a student is a visual learner, but does not know how to access educational videos or interactive maps, there is a strong possibility that they will not learn nearly as effectively as they would if they had this knowledge.

Advantages of conducting these assessments are numerous. By doing them, a school or district can see where their teachers and students are lacking in technology and take steps to improve these weaknesses, such as making professional development available for teachers and adjusting curriculums for students to include more technology application. They can also see where students’ perceived learning needs are and adjust the curriculums to suit those needs as well. These assessments are very good at highlighting areas for improvement.

However, there are also disadvantages in conducting these assessments. Namely, it could be very inaccurate. For example, if a school is extremely financially unstable, it probably will not be able to afford to have the latest technology. The assessment will likely not take that into account and show the school’s teachers and students to be “technologically weak” and not meeting the state’s technology standards. Additionally, the assessments may prove to be inaccurate due to false answers given by students and teachers out of fear of what might happen if the assessments show them to be technologically weak.

The main can of these assessments is the question of accuracy. However, in this age of advanced technology, the pros of the assessments outweigh the cons, as students need to learn and be able to learn how to interact with educational technology