The use of technology provides new ways of working and learning for teachers and students. The use of technology assessments help to identify potential areas of strength and weakness so that as a campus and as an educator you can define your define your needs, establish your goals and target your professional development. These assessments are key tools in helping to identify level of proficiency as well as depth of knowledge for educators as well as your student base.
As with any type of assessment, technology assessments are subject to validity and reliability. Educators and students may be unclear as to what a specific question is asking because of word choice so there is potentially a level ambiguity when answering the questions and therefore a skew in the interpretation of the results.
Technology assessments do not always account for the lack of available technology on a campus. The Texas Start Chart is one such technology assessment tool that the state of Texas uses to rate campuses in four key areas including; Teaching and Learning, Educator Preparation and Development, Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support, and Infrastructure for Technology. (http://starchart.epsilen.com/docs/TxCSC.pdf) As a campus we participate in this survey each year and several of the questions on the assessment query distance learning opportunities. We currently don't have the resources needed to make this a viable option on our campus as I am sure is true of many of schools in districts in our state so naturally it may show as an area of weakness.
Overall technology assessments are useful tools in becoming a more technological society. Educators and students alike benefit from the many uses of technology in education. These assessments help to keep us continually learning, monitoring and improving our technology infrastructure.
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