Moving forward with technology in the classroom is obviously the wave of the future…it’s hard to deny that…but how can we gauge whether our schools are actually moving forward?

One way that the state of Texas reviews the growth of technology in our schools and classrooms is through the use of a simple survey called the Texas Teacher School Technology and Readiness Chart…or the STaR Chart!

Texas STaR Chart

Texas STaR Chart

This online tool (http://starchart.epsilen.com/) allows for the state of Texas to assess the use of technology in our schools, and from that, can help disperse funding as it is needed.  All teachers and campus librarians are REQUIRED to take this survey, and from the data they provide, campus administrators complete a survey for their campus, and finally the district provides their results to TEA.

Since this is a survey that you only complete once a year, it can be difficult to remember exactly what you need to do, so to help you out, we have created a few video tutorials walking you through the most common steps of completing the STaR Chart.  The videos answer each of the following three questions:

  • I am new to my campus this year.  How do I get a username for the survey?
  • I forgot my password!  What do I do?!
  • This seems too easy…is this all I really have to do to complete this survey?

So, check out the videos below (press the play button in the middle of each screen to begin)!  Hopefully they will help you walk through this very simple, fairly short survey, that ultimately helps us all reflect on how technology is impacting our schools!

I’m new…how do I get a username and get set up in the survey?

I forgot my password!  What do I do?

Ok…I’m in the survey now…What do I do?