In 2022, the State Board of Education (SBOE) gave final approval to the revised Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS ) for Technology Applications, sometimes referred to as “Tech Apps.” The revisions will be implemented beginning with the 2024-25 school year. This is the same year the new Science TEKS will be implemented. The revised Technology Applications TEKS are included in Proclamation 2024.
| 2011 TEKS | 2022 TEKS |
|---|---|
| • Adoption by the SBOE in 2011 • First implementation in classrooms during the 2012-2013 school year | • Adoption by the SBOE in 2022 • First implementation in classrooms during the 2024-2025 school year |
The six topic strands from the 2011 Technology Applications TEKS will be reduced to five strands in the new standards. Communication and collaboration, previously a stand-alone strand, is now embedded across all the strands.
The Current Strands
The current six strands are:
- Creativity and Innovation
- Communication and Collaboration
- Research and Information Fluency
- Critical Thinking Problem Solving, and Decision Making
- Digital Citizenship
- Technology Operations and Concepts
Under the revisions, substrands have been added to organize the knowledge and skills further.
The five strands from the 2022 standards and their new substrands are shown below.
| Strands | Substrand | Substrand | Substrand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creativity & Innovation | Innovation Design Process | Emerging Technologies | |
| Data Literacy, Management, & Representation | Collect Data | Organize, Manage, and Analyze Data | Communication and Publish Results |
| Computational Thinking | Foundations | Applications | |
| Digital Citizenship | Social Interactions | Ethics and Laws | Privacy, Safety, and Security |
| Practical Technology Concepts | Processes | Skills and Tools |
Taking a Closer Look at Technology Applications TEKS
The K-8 Technology Applications TEKS include major changes. Some of the overarching changes include:
- TEKS for each grade level
- Use of strands and substrands as organizing principles
- Reorganization of content across the strands
- Computational thinking (new)
- Creativity and innovation
- Data literacy, management, and representation (new)
- Digital citizenship
- Practical technology concepts
- New TEKS or revised TEKS for new strands and grade-level structure
- Integration of communications and collaboration throughout the TEKS
- Strands connect to everyday life and to solving problems
- Progression from language students are familiar with to technology terminology
- The use of “with assistance.”
- The use of “with or without technology.”
- Terminology with simpler wording
- Broad descriptions of technology to allow for emerging technology
Impact of TEKS Changes
Schools are required to teach Technology Applications TEKS as part of the required enrichment curriculum in elementary and middle school (K-8). Districts have the flexibility to offer the Technology Applications TEKS in a variety of settings and instructional arrangements, including as a stand-alone course or integrated into other courses or subject areas.
Student expectations have been updated and expanded to improve scaffolding across the grade levels, better connect to everyday life, integrate “real-world” technology terminology, and better accommodate emerging technologies.
The addition of computational thinking represents the largest departure from the 2011 TEKS. Computational Thinking is a thinking process used to solve problems logically and methodically. Computational Thinking promotes a purposeful, describable, and replicable method of problem-solving. The computational thinking process can follow a different order depending on the context of the problem.
Expansion of Technology Applications in Elementary
The 2011 TEKS are grade-banded, with one set of standards for grades K-2 and another set of standards for grades 3-5. Each standard was expected to be taught at least once during its assigned grade band.
The footprint of the TEKS is expanded in the 2022 revision with a full set of standards at each grade level, K-5. Middle school continues to have a set of Technology Applications TEKS for each grade level.
Locating the Technology Applications TEKS
The Technology Application TEKS are available on the Texas Education Agency website. This website offers announcements related to the new TEKS and information on the current Technology Applications.
Currently, there are two sets of TEKS on the TEA website. These address the 2011 TEKS for Technology Applications, which are finishing implementation in the 2023-24 school year, and the revised 2022 set of Technology Applications TEKS scheduled to be implemented beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
Conclusion
ESC Region 13 offers a monthly support series for leaders planning TEKS implementation. Our Technology Applications: Tech Apps Talk connects Region 13 specialists and district leaders from across the region to share ideas and tackle the challenges associated with the new Technology Applications TEKS. Read more about the Tech Apps Talk in the E-Campus catalog.
Another way to stay connected and get the latest news and information is to subscribe to the Region 13 Cross-Curricular Systems newsletter.
The Region 13 STEM team is available to help navigate the implementation of Technology Applications TEKS. Contact us with questions or concerns. Read more about changes to the Science TEKS in our blog.
Adrienne Arroyo
Adrienne Arroyo is the Education Service Center Region 13 STEM Specialist.
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