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Part of the problem, he suggested, is the time it takes educators to move from learning about a piece of technology to actually integrating and manipulating its specific uses for the classroom. "If you take the five stages from the evolution of thought and practice," he said, "starting with 'entry' and moving through 'adoption' to 'adaptation' to 'appropriation,' and finally 'innovation,' research shows it takes seven years on average to go from the top of that list to the bottom. That's a long time." Too long, according to Benno. Which is why, as educators, "we have to figure out how to close the gap."

For Benno, staff development is the key to making that happen. "With professional development that number drops from seven years to around two and a half years," he said. "That's a huge difference." And a big part of the value of professional development, he argued, is that it gets educators to start thinking about new ways to use technology; ways that seem foreign, but that may be quite common in the minds of 21st century learners.

Some people can read instructions on how to do things and can immediately go out and do them without any problems. But others need to see things done before they fully grasp how to do them. This is fine if you know someone who can show you how to do things, but if you don’t, it’s a little harder. Enter the video tutorial. I