Technology Application TEKS

Preschool students are expected to open and use software programs, use input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, and CD-ROM, and operate recorders and touch screens. They can use software applications to express their own ideas, and they understand that technology offers them access to information from others.

The Pre-K TEKS are the very beginning of a dynamic, spiraling technology curriculum. The Pre-K TEKS lay the foundation for successful technology performance in the future by providing experiences where students become comfortable with basic technology equipment and terminology. Their early technology application experience builds their confidence so that they are ready to tackle more complex projects as they move through each grade level. A spiraling curriculum builds on basic skills by touching on what the student knows and adding to it. For example, Pre-K students learn how to use the keyboard to create a simple word-processing document. In third grade, students expand on this by changing fonts and inserting charts. In middle school, their document becomes more sophisticated by learning how to use page set-up and publishing multi-column newsletters. In high school, they take it even further by publishing it on the internet. A spiraling curriculum is very different from a traditional curriculum. Traditionally, we master a set of objectives and move on to the next that are usually disconnected from the previous knowledge. A spiraling curriculum keeps elaborating on what we already know. Our foundation skills provide a springboard to the next level, but we continue to use these basic skills within the context of more sophisticated application.