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Many of the nation's school districts still don't have the bandwidth needed to support mobile devices used by students.

Very low level of development of learning assets specifically for mobile devices.

Just-in-time knowledge: Short bursts of information and learning assets that can be consumed anywhere in just a few minutes.

Moderate to high levels of technology frustration in making learning assets fully viewable and optimized on devices — Flash on an iPad, for example.

the transition to mobile learning is not an easy one for most companies to make.

Prior instructional design was developed for the PC, not iOS or Android devices, so animations and interactions that work well on a desktop computer do not carry the same functionality on a mobile platform. Additionally, learning management systems exist behind layers of security firewalls that make it difficult for users to access courses on their mobile devices.

Thirty percent of those reading electronic content and 40  percent of those who have owned an eReader device for a year or more say they read more.

1.Rapid growth in for-profit post-secondary

2.Expanded online learning offerings

3.Massively open online courses (MOOC)

Consider your learning goals

Figure out your digital curriculum strategy

Pick your management style

There's been some dispute to these numbers. Lee Wilson, a veteran of the education industry, blogged exhaustively that Apple e-textbooks actually cost six-to-seven times more than print textbooks. Using estimated data from his own experience and from technology directors, he determined Apple textbooks cost $71.55 per student, per class, as opposed to $14.26 for print textbooks. He factored purchase of the devices into cost. (I urge you to read his post, and his follow-up, and judge the numbers yourself.)

Either way, if the price tag for iPads and e-textbooks ends up being too costly and districts aren't seeing much of a different from their print past, meeting Arne Duncan's digital textbook goals may be tough.

tablet owners more than quadrupled among college-bound high school seniors during the past year, with 17 percent surveyed this year claiming a tablet device as their own.

It also more than tripled among college students, with a quarter of this year's respondents owning a tablet.

69 percent of high school seniors and 63 percent of college students said they believed tablets would effectively replace textbooks within five years,

“What we are seeing today is a certain amount of familiarity for the millennial generation around using technology. Whether it is a mobile phone, a tablet or computer, or also doing things with television, video recordings, gaming, there is a particular set of skills that they have developed,” says Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft Corp. “However, we also know that just because you’ve had familiarity with the use of a device, it may not necessarily lead to proficiency in the use of technology where youth are effectively using technology to better their lives through a job, start something, or undertake further studies.”

Plan for the shift to personal digital learning in phases over the next three years. You need six, coordinated plans considering content and instruction, assessment and data, devices and broadband, staffing and professional development, fiscal impact, and communications.

the trend among schools was to let students bring their own devices. “We’re seeing BYOD taking off in schools,”

“I certainly think there is a lot of conversation around BYOD … but these introduce challenges as well.” He explained: “I think you need to define the common technology needs and goals and determine if BYOD can meet those needs.”