Draft:TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association)

Review waiting, please be patient. This may take 2 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 1,274 pending submissions waiting for review. If the submission is accepted, then this page will be moved into the article space. If the submission is declined, then the reason will be posted here. In the meantime, you can continue to improve this submission by editing normally. Where to get help If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews. If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed. How to improve a draft Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia. Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Add tags to your draft Editor resources Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs Reviewer tools Instructions · What links here · TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) (talk: + · bio) · (log) · Copyvios report · reFill · Citation Bot · (Search: Google, Wikipedia) · Submitted 34 hours ago by SaraMTCEA (talk: D · +) · Last edited 34 hours ago by SaraMTCEA

The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to advancing technology in education. Established in 1980, TCEA provides resources, professional development, and advocacy to help educators integrate technology effectively into their teaching practices including TCEA—an ed tech event, teaching and leading with technology, and TCEA certifications. TCEA also provides a suite of professional learning resources, including webinars, online courses, consulting services.

The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) was formed during the 1979–1980 school year, as educators across Texas began to explore the use of computers in education. A group of these educators, seeking instruction in programming, enrolled in a night course at North Texas State University taught by Dr. James L. Poirot. Among them were Vicki Smith and Diana Radspinner, who initiated a conversation about creating a network for teachers interested in educational technology. Dr. Poirot^[1] agreed to organize a meeting to discuss this idea further if they were willing to assist with the initial planning and paperwork.

On May 3, 1980, an organizational meeting was held, attended by 135 educators from across the state. The first official meeting of TCEA took place on October 4, 1980, at North Texas State University, where a constitution was adopted, and the first board of directors was elected. The organization's first newsletter was subsequently published, and TCEA made its initial public appearance at the National Education Computing Conference (now ISTE) in Denton, Texas in the summer of 1981. At that time, the association was organized into five geographic areas, each represented by one or two directors.

TCEA's early operations were led by a part-time executive director, Robert Knight, who worked from his home in Lubbock, Texas. The organization has since expanded to include members across the United States and internationally. TCEA has grown into the largest state organization in Texas dedicated to educational technology.

TCEA is recognized for organizing and hosting a range of events that promote innovation in elementary, secondary, and higher education.

Established in 1980, The TCEA Annual Convention & Exposition is TCEA's flagship conference, bringing together educators, administrators, and ed tech professionals from around the world to exchange ideas, strategies, and innovative approaches^[2] in education. The event^[3] attracts more than 10,000 educators and education leaders. Held alongside the annual TCEA Convention & Exposition is the Leadership Summit for educational leaders at the district and campus level. Recent conferences have been held in Austin, Texas (2024), San Antonio, Texas (2023), and Dallas, Texas (2022).

The Elementary Technology Conference (ETC), formerly known as "Tots and Technology," was launched in 2011 by TCEA to explore innovative approaches in elementary education with PreK-5 educators. The event is held in Galveston, Texas and brings together over 1,000 educators and education leaders to share strategies and practices for integrating technology into elementary classrooms. Previous conferences were held throughout Texas in the cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Frisco.

In addition to the TCEA Annual Convention & Exposition, TCEA hosts various smaller events focused on specific topics. In 2012, TCEA launched the System Administrators and Technical Support Conference, held in the Austin-Georgetown, Texas area. This conference is designed for professionals who manage hardware, software, network, and infrastructure support in PreK-16 educational settings. In 2017, TCEA introduced the Conference for Educational Coaches (CEC), a hybrid event offered both in-person and virtually, that supports individuals involved in the coaching process and promoting the professional growth of educators. In 2022, TCEA began hosting the Librarian Conference, a virtual event uniting school librarians that explores the latest trends and technologies in librarianship. In 2023, TCEA also began hosting the Artificial Intelligence for Educators Conference (AI for Edu), a virtual event which focuses on using AI in education.

TCEA provides professional development opportunities on a variety of educational topics including artificial intelligence, digital citizenship, computational thinking, and teaching with technology. The organization offers professional learning for a range of educator roles, including instructional and ed tech coaches, library media specialists, and classroom educators and school leaders. In May 2020, TCEA expanded their online courses to prepare educators to be effective at teaching and leading online as most school districts cancelled face-to-face instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TCEA advocates for the use of technology in education by working with state and national policymakers^[4] to support legislation and policies that promote equitable access to digital resources for all students. The organization's advocacy efforts concentrate on key issues such as digital equity, funding for educational technology, and providing professional learning opportunities for educators.

TCEA has over 80,000 members worldwide and is extended to all roles in education including teachers, administrators, librarians, and curriculum and instructional specialists who are interested in the use and application of technology in education.

The following Wikipedia contributor may be personally or professionally connected to the subject of this article. Relevant policies and guidelines may include conflict of interest, autobiography, and neutral point of view. Their edits to this article were last checked for neutrality on 23 September 2024 by SaraMTCEA. SaraMTCEA (talk · contribs) This user has contributed to the article.