Literate in the 21st Century

I believe the major challenges in any technology are money and staff development. You need to have a fast Internet connection for using any Web 2.0 technology. A lot of the programs that the students can use are free, which is great on the budget, but if you do not have the computers and fast Internet to do what you want, the students will become frustrated, impatient and inattentive. As I have read, businesses and even the President of the United States uses these tools to communicate. The students need to be aware of the technology that is out there and how to properly use the tools. For the teachers to understand how to use the technology tools, and correlate it with their curriculum, there needs to be plenty of staff development. The teachers have to feel comfortable using these tools in order to educate the students. Staff development takes time and money.

In order for the teachers to complete their curriculum in a year they can only spend so much time on each section.  The teachers have some major thinking about bringing in technology tools to enhance their curriculum. This will take time and they need to remember to do it in strides. Being able to collaborate with educators that are already using the web tools in the teacher’s subject area is a plus. This way they can share ideas on how to use them, what works well, and have some type of a timeline. The more often the teachers use the technology tools the easier it will get and this will allow the students to become more literate in the 21^st Century.