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"What does the iPad have to teach educational technology about how a phenomenon becomes popular and adopted? Quite a bit. First, acceptance is high, with a half-million units sold in the first week of release. Six weeks later, Apple was selling twice as many iPads per week as Mac computers. Given some recent history, this should be surprising-the idea of a tablet device has been around for at least a decade or two, but most such devices have not experienced anything close to wide adoption. However, some specific factors have paved the way for the iPad's adoption. And these factors harbor advice that educational technology would do well to heed. Prime the technology pump. The iPhone, direct predecessor to the iPad, came onto the market amid a wave of technology that permitted small packages to deliver powerful computing. This hardware, including GPS location sensors, fast and efficient microprocessors, and the evolution of touch screen technology was a necessary condition for the emergence and success of both the iPhone and the iPad generation of devices. Define (and answer) the problem. The hugely popular mobile smartphones had an equally huge problem. People hated their interfaces. A decade of frustration with labyrinthian voicemail menus and inscrutable settings had created an army of frustrated mobile phone users with enough pent-up rage to fuel a revolution. By providing a device that was easy to use, the iPhone had identified a core problem and set a new bar for its solution, one that was quickly taken up by many others. Whet undiscovered appetites. The explosion of mobile devices also created for millions the idea of constant, away-from-home connectivity. The iPhone upped the ante significantly by providing a full browsing and even computing experience, giving consumers the expectation that they should be only inches away from powerful, networked computing at all times. Provide the practice. The iPhone defined a new set of touch-based interactions. Whi

Interesting future of software marketing.

this is a quote about simCEO from Edutopia- What if students created their own companies, complete with business plans? What if they could also buy and sell stocks in classmates' companies? What if they could see how stock prices fluctuated over a 10-year period rather than just a few weeks? The result of that brainstorming became an online simulation called SimCEO. Luebbe, principal of American International School of Budapest, has been fine-tuning his creation by sharing it with educators around the world. They have surprised him by taking projects in directions he never imagined. He expected teachers to focus on financial literacy and entrepreneurship. But some have brought in different content. "They might set the simulation in Colonial America or New York in the 1920s," Luebbe says, then ask students to consider how historical factors would have affected market prices. Because teachers determine all the content, he adds, "they can bring in demographic data, real or fictional news, historical events -- whatever they want." The game becomes an open platform for teacher innovation.""

Interesting PA high school reform effort. The graphic details the "Range of Instructional Use" for using technology as a facilitator for transforming classrooms into 21st century T&L environments.

I wonder what kind of message this might present to schools about using social media