Projects for Educational TechnologyOne of the Texas Technology Initiatives
According to Texas Education Agency - Projects for Educational Technology,
the definition of Projects for Educational Technology (PET) is as follows: "Projects for Educational Technology (PETS) are demonstration models or pilots designed to provide Texas students, teachers, and administrators opportunities to test the uses, effectiveness, and feasibility of technologies in education and to facilitate the use of technology in restructuring educational systems. Programs are designed to encourage participation and collaboration among school campuses, districts, education service centers, institutions of higher education, state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private sector."
The establishment of these demonstration programs originated in the Long-Range Plan for Technology 1988-2000 which resulted from the passage of Senate Bill 650 by the 71st Legislature. This plan set forth many goals for the Texas Education Agency to develop and implement the use of technology in instructional environments. This legislation was the first in the nation to plan and budget funds solely for the use of technology in schools. Six million dollars was appropriated to begin implementation of this plan. Eight Texas Technology Initiatives resulted from this plan including: Technology Allotment, Texas Education Network (TENET), Texas School Telecommunication Access Resource (T-Star), Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET), Technology Preview and Training Centers, Texas Education Telecommunication Network (TETN), Texas Library Connection (TLC), and Technology Demonstration Sites. Projects for Educational Technology (PET) and The Tri-State Multimedia LEP projects are both under the Technology Demonstration initiative.
Between September 1992 and August 1993, the 73rd Legislature passed House Bill 183 and House Bill 1029 which called for the establishment of demonstration sites - Projects for Educational Technology (PETs). PETs were structured to include two phases , a planning and an implementation phase. Funds were made available through Planning Grants to allow schools to plan for the implementation of their technology project. Schools could apply for an Implementation grant if they had already completed planning for their technology project. In some cases schools received both phases of the grants, planning and implementation. Schools had to complete a complex application and describe how the proposed project would align with their overall goals and /or district improvement plans. Some of the major uses of the planning grant funds utilized by school districts were to conduct planning sessions on campus, hire substitutes to allow teachers to participate in these planning sessions, provide on-site staff development, travel to conferences and existing demonstration sites, and establish collaborative and partnerships with other districts. The implementation grants were organized into four categories to allow demonstration programs to have a variety of focuses. The four categories were integration of technology into the curriculum, library media services, staff development and "other". The applications for implementation grants could address one or more of these categories. 1994-1995 Planning and Implementation Grants were awarded totaling $1.3 million. During this time, twenty-two planning grants in the amount of $300,000 were awarded to seventy-seven school districts and their collaborative partners under the Projects for Educational Technology. These grants were issued to sites represented by all regions of the state. The awardees focuses ranged from the establishment of a distance learning system to implementing a program using various technologies for at risk students. In 1995, one implementation grant was awarded in the amount of one million dollars to a consortium of twenty-four school districts and two institutions of higher education. The overall purpose of the grant was to fund a project known as Creating Connections. This project's specific purpose was to establish a network, which was later called ET-LINC, to provide two-way video/two-way audio distance learning. The same amount of funding, $1.3 million, was awarded in the 1995-1996 Planning and Implementation Grants. During this time, sixteen planning grants totaling $300,000 were awarded to eighty-two school districts representing fifteen ESC regions. Completing district surveys, visiting other demonstration sites, providing staff development opportunities, and promoting collaboration among various districts/colleges are many of the activities of these planning grant recipients. Five 1995-1996 Implementation Grant were awarded to ten districts and their collaborators totaling $1.2 million dollars. Implementation grant recipients used funding for collaborative partnership meetings, staff development, and equipment purchases. Information on schools awarded PET's planning and implementation grants were not available for the 1996-1997 school year. However, it is known that 1997-1998 funds from PET's grants were not used to develop new models. They were used solely to recognize already existing technology staff development processes and models that addressed the uses of technology in curriculum areas. According to Texas Education Agency's PET's request for application (RFA), it was estimated that funding of $500,000 was available for grants for the 1997-1998 term. The ending date of the 1997-1998 projects was August 31, 1998 and final expenditure and evaluation reports are due from recipients of the grants on October 15, 1998.
Definition:Definition, Origin, and Historical Background of Initiative
CURRENTCurrent (and Future?) Status
Proposals for PETs demonstration sites were structured to include a planning and /or an implementation phase. Resources were made available to allow schools to conduct structured and organized planning toward a technology project. Regional Education Service Centers provide information of school
districts and colleges that have received grants to implement
demonstration programs. In May of 1996, Region 10 launched EdNet10,
which provides access to member school districts to a wealth of remote resources (Internet, E-mail, selected third party products, Region 10 service programs, and innovative programs. EdNet10 also offers resource through NETcessities which
provides more resources for students and teachers.
FUTURE
Technology Allotment:
Texas funding provides approximately $30 per student/year to provide for the purchasing of electronic textbooks or technological equipment and pays for training education personnel directly involved. The Long-Range Plan for Technology are technology goals which support any allotments for the purchases of technology.
What Impact the Initiative Might (or might not) be Having
What Educators, Parents, and Others Know About ItThe Projects for Educational Technology were created to establish demonstration programs and to develop and implement the use of technology in instructional environments. As is true for many "cutting edge" research-and-development projects, universities and larger organizations (such as ESC's) appear to be more suited to the endeavor. The hope is that projects developed with these universities and ESC's will make their way "down" to those most in need -- the classrooms of Texas.
Where it Fits in the Conventional/Restructured School/Classroom ContinuumThe goals of the Projects for Educational Technology align with the goals for a restructured school. The two main goals of PET's were to investigate the uses, effectiveness and feasibility of technologies for education and to provide models for effective education using technology. PETs provide the initiative and funding for schools to prepare the next generation of students for a more technological world, where students must develop strategies to solve problems and are able to utilize a variety of technologies thus creating a restructured educational environment.
Team Members