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For my blog entry I choose to discuss Educator Preparation and Development. This key area includes; Professional Development Experiences, Models of professional development, Capabilities of Educators, Access of Professional Development, Levels of Understanding and Patterns of Use, and Professional Development for Online Learning. I choose this key area because I feel very strongly that is indeed the most important area and one that must be rated as an advanced tech in order to improve technology integration in schools. Teachers must be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to teach their students how to use technology appropriately and correctly. Our world relies on technology and our students must be familiar with it in order to succeed in the real working world. It is the job of educators to make sure this happens and to make sure we are providing them with tools that will help them succeed in the future. Progress is certainly being made as we hire more technology specialists for schools. These specialists are able to devote their time to training teachers and helping students gain the necessary skills to be successful with technology. However, some districts and even states do not feel technology warrants this much attention and it is placed on the back burner. This thought will eventually hurt their students because they will not have the tools necessary to compete in the work force because they will not have technology proficiencies that are a must in the work force. I think the best way for us to improve this problem is to continue to hire well qualified individuals and allow them to work with our teachers individually so they may become comfortable with using technology in their classrooms. Also, I think more time in the computer labs would be very beneficial for students as well.