Technology Applications TEKS Summary (Week 1, Part4)

Analysis of Pre Kindergarten Technology TEKS
The TEKS for technology in Pre-K consist mainly of allowing students the time and guidance to see that technology can provide information and can be used to express ideas. The use of educational software is invaluable towards this end. Using a program that is high-interest and can provide practice with academic skills is a great way to provide practice with the basic skills of navigating through a program and using hardware features such as clicking a mouse and navigating from one screen to the next. Teaching students the names for these devices satisfies the remaining TEKS.

These basic Pre-K TEKS in technology are crucial for successful performance in higher grades. Even in grades K-2 a student is expected to know how to perform the basic functions described in the Pre-K TEKS. Students in these grades are expected to produce multimedia products designed to inform a specific audience about a specific topic. Without support from the teachers in Pre-K, teachers in grades K-2 would have a much more daunting task in front of them. Students without the foundation from Pre-K would likely be lagging in skills for much of their school lives.

A Spiraling or Scaffolding Curriculum
A spiraling curriculum is one in which students are exposed to new information many times. In a spiraling (scaffolding) curriculum using technology, students would be given many opportunities to experience differing aspects of technology, then would be asked to produce an informative presentation. In a research situation, students would be shown examples of searches yielding information. Later, they would be given the opportunity to conduct their own searches, under supervision. The would be shown examples of informative Power Point presentations, then guided through the steps of producing a Power Point slide. Over time, the students would develop their own Power Point slide show to present the findings of their research.  As new topics of study are introduced, new opportunities for students to use their developing technology skills automatically present themselves. Students who have accomplished the basics would be encouraged to explore more advanced facets of Power Point in this example, adding music or publishing to the class or school website.