As I pondered the question, “what are the greatest challenges for leveraging technology to empower learning in your classroom and school?”… I thought first of the obvious… FUNDS!  However, that is an issue with everything surrounding education, so I took a different angle.  Some educators/ administrators/ curriculum specialists believe that utilizing technology in the classroom can engage students in authentic learning.  They believe that in turn, students will be more self motivated and learning will reach higher levels on Blooms’ Revised Taxonomy. Eventually technology use becomes the “Ruby Slippers” magically transporting education to a new dimension…

http://logintoliteracy.wordpress.com/

Others see technology as “Flying Monkeys”, there to take us away from what is really important in education; leading us down pathways that are confusing and unclear… the theatrics may be impressive, but eventually we have to find a new way to be successful.

I find myself sitting in the fence of indecision… and as I often do when faced with a quandary, I consult my own “Crystal Ball” of information… eduTopia…after doing a thorough search and reading loads of information, I decided that the best information I found was

Tech2Learn: Success Stories of Technology Integration in the Classroom

which provided an incredible amount of information as well as insight on the ” How to make it work.”                              I also happened upon a post about finding funds for technology ; listing many opportunities for teachers to write grants and/or apply for funding for classroom technology.  So, I guess “Dorothy” has decided that one of the biggest challenges in leveraging technology in education is education itself in the form of relevant professional development… after all wouldn’t it be fabulous if everyone could have the experience we had at NCCAT??