Texas Center for Educational Technology

History

The initial Long-Range Plan for Technology, 1988-2000 for Texas called for the creation of a statewide educational technology research and development center. The State Board envisioned that the Center would consist of public school educators, teacher training institutions, and technology vendors all working together, sharing perspectives, and applying technology to prepare Texas public schools to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Through a competitive proposal process conducted during the spring of 1990, the site for TCET was awarded to the University of North Texas in Denton. The University of Texas at Austin participated as a second site collaborator. The consortium soon expanded to include the University of Houston at Clear Lake and Texas Tech University.

TCET's baseline funding was initially provided by the Texas Education Agency's Educational Technology Division. As of the 1997-1998 fiscal year, TCET began operation on a project basis for the TEA's Regional Service Centers, Curriculum and Instruction Division, Educational Technology Division, and Administration, with grants and task payments tied to specific objectives of a particular project. It also expanded its scope with new federal and state grants and private school and corporate projects.

During the early years, TCET-supported activities in fourteen laboratories, each managed by highly qualified, university-based researchers. This research explored new technologies including educational uses of telecommunications, distance learning methods, the use of brain-mapping to diagnose learning disabilities, multimedia planning guides, and related research.

TCET-supported projects also included K-12 educators and corporate partners. These activities resulted in the production of over forty products for teachers, including training guides, annotated bibliographies, sample science, math, and social studies lessons in a hypermedia environment, and more than twenty training workshops and summer institutes.

Now, TCET is uniquely structured to foster collaboration. Board membership brings together public school educators, faculty from colleges of education, and representatives from the business community. Cooperatively, these members create and support a research agenda that reflects the best thinking of all the partners.

Project History

  • Project Manager
    • Teacher Quality Higher Education Grants Program
    • Technology Applications Center for Educator Development
    • Intel® Teach to the Future Program
    • Intel® Teach to the Future in Texas Program
    • South Central Regional Technology Education Consortium Higher Education Network
    • Insight: Instrument Library and Data Repository
    • TBEC/UNT - Performance Information for Public Education (PIPE)
    • Texas STARgate
    • Super Collider Opportunities for Public Educators (SCOPE)
    • Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3): Catalyst Grant
  • Project Evaluator
    • TIF Community Network Grant: Irving.Net
    • Victoria ISD: Technology Audit
    • DOE: Irving.Net II
    • TARGET grants
      • ESC 13
      • ESC 20
      • New Braunfels ISD
      • Poteet ISD
      • ESC 14
      • ESC 15
      • ESC 8
    • Gates/TASA: Technology Leadership Academy
    • Technology Integration in Education (TIE) grants
      • ONLINE Consortium
      • Irving ISD: Project TACTICS
      • ESC 8: Students Learning Without Boundaries
      • ESC 14: West Texas Technology Consortium
      • New Summerfield ISD: SUPERnet and Voyage for Discover II
      • ESC 10: EdNet10 - Access for All
      • Fabens ISD: eeZoneli>
      • ESC 14: 21st Century Administrative Environment Report
      • New Braunfels ISD: Cyber Connection
      • McAllen ISD: Project Integrate
      • ESC 1: TTTL
      • ESC 8: NTxRETN
      • ESC 20: STARTnet
      • Austin ISD: AT-STAR
      • Liberty-Eylau ISD: Virtual Field Trip Network
      • ESC 16: Panhandle Information Network
      • Denton ISD: TEA-TIME
      • ESC 13: Project E-Teach
      • Crandall, Terrell, & Scurry-Rosser ISDs: Project STAR
      • ESC 2: Educator Preparation
      • ESC 2: CoBeNet
      • Crandall ISD: Project Star
      • United ISD: ACE
      • ESC 9: Region 9 Collaborative
      • ESC 12: CTEN
      • ESC 14: Professional Development/Troubleshooting Collaborative
      • Allen ISD and Laredo ISD Collaborative
      • Austin ISD: Cyberways and Waterways
      • DeKalb ISD: ATTIC
      • Groesbeck ISD: WebQuest Club
      • Coolidge ISD: EdNet Plus
      • ESC 8: Data 8
      • ESC 9: Net9 Consortium
      • ESC 14: Telecommuniations for Rural Schools in the New Millennium Project
      • Groesbeck ISD: Limestone EdNet Collaborative
    • Projects for Educational Technology (PET) grants
      • Socorro ISD: LINKing Socorro
      • Carroll ISD: STAR Model Project
      • Leander ISD: T3
      • Graham ISD: ONLINE Consortium
    • TIF Discovery grants
      • Lamar University: Project LINC
      • Rockdale ISD: Project GREAT
      • Arp ISD: A TIF Study
      • Allen ISD: Virtual District
    • Public Access Initiative Pilot Program
    • USDLC: Engaged Learning Project
      • ESC 20: StarNet Star School Project
    • PT3
      • UT at Austin: Project INSITE
      • UT at San Antonio: Tech Connect
      • Marquette University: Technology for Tomorrow's Urban Teachers (TTUT)
    • Pilot implementation of the Commissioner's Access Initiative/IBM Reinventing Education II program
    • TEA: Texas School Telecommunications Access Resource (T-STAR)
  • Product Developer
    • Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD Professional Development
    • ESC 10, Math and Science
    • Sharing Technology Applications Resources with Teachers
    • START Curriculum Connections
    • ESC 2: Collaborative TIE Application
  • Host
    • TCET/UNT/CPB Technology Summit