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College of Education
Office of Educator Preparation

Technology for Teaching and Learning

Texas State Prepared teachers are ready to integrate technology with their instruction to enhance student learning and implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL) when planning and teaching. In our teacher preparation program, candidates have multiple opportunities to learn about and use technology for these purposes. For example, candidates learn to:

  • Use assistive technology and accessible instructional materials
  • Create digital stories and use animation tools with writing projects
  • Identify appropriate apps and multi-media for students to use for learning content, practicing skills, and generating learning products
  • Use interactive technologies, such as online polls, to promote open dialogue and collaboration among students
  • Design lesson plans based on interactive or virtual science web sites
  • Explore digital artifacts and primary sources for social studies
  • Navigate a web-based elementary mathematics curriculum
  • Use technology appropriately for communicating with students, parents, and the community
  • Experiment with flipped and blended learning experiences
  • Think critically about technology use in schools and classrooms and raise questions, such as:
    • Research shows there are inequities in access to technologies and connectivity, especially in rural areas. What should teachers and school leaders be doing to address these inequities so that the benefits of technology are afforded to all?
    • What do we lose when we use technology? Is the tech tool the best choice to meet learning goals? Recent research indicates that too much “screen time” can be harmful to cognitive and social development; how can teachers balance technology with the need for authentic, real world experiences?

Texas State Prepared teachers are ready to use technology to collect, manage, analyze, and use data appropriately and effectively to inform instructional decisions that increase student achievement. Our teacher candidates use multiple tools for formative and summative assessment and practice analyzing student data from informal and formal sources to make data-informed decisions for the next steps in teaching. These examples of how candidates use technology to assist with these processes:

  • Document and collect student work using digital and video cameras, voice memos, online and app-based quizzes and surveys, online forums, and digital drop boxes
  • Create digital rubrics that link assessment to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
  • Use web tools to analyze component literacy and mathematics skills to determine next learning steps and/or needed interventions
  • Use state-level assessment data appropriately to inform instruction

Check out these links for ISTE and Texas technology standards for teachers and UDL.