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Instructional technology seeks to disprove the idea that "great teachers are born, not made."

"Students today can't prepare bark to calculate their problems. They depend on slates, which are more expensive. What will they do when the slate is dropped and it breaks? They will be unable to write." From a Teachers Conference, 1703. "Students today depend on paper too much. They don't know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can't clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?" From a principal's publication, 1815. "Students today depend too much on ink. They don't know how to use a pen knife to sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil." From the National Association of Teachers Journal, 1907. "Students today depend on store-bought ink. They don't know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or cipher until their next trip to the settlement. This is a sad commentary on modern education." From The Rural American Teacher, 1928. "Students depend on these expensive fountain pens. They can no longer write with a straight pen and nib. We parents must not allow them to wallow in such luxury to the detriment of how to cope in the business world, which is not so extravagant." From the Parent Teachers Association Gazette, 1941. "Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices and then throw them away. The American values of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Business and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries." From Federal Teachers, 1950.

What this suggests is that all technologies, be they things that plug in or advances in thought, have various affordances that make them at times useful and at times not useful. The trick is to figure out what makes them useful in what situations in order to leverage their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

In Our Vaults Since 1892 when the first flag was donated to the Museum of the Confederacy, we have continued to preserve these important artifacts, culminating in a collection that includes more than 822 total flags and flag fragments. These include wartime, postwar, miniatures, and reproductions. The Museum houses the largest single collection of Confederate and Union national, state, presentation, company and regimental flags including nearly 500 wartime flags. More than half of the Museum’s flag collection are captured flags entrusted to the Museum by mandate of the United States Congress and the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1905 and 1906. The remaining flags are from private donations. This collection continues to increase in this manner today. If you would like to inquire about donating a flag or related object to The American Civil War Museum, please email us. The Museum’s flag collection is housed in a dedicated 1,300 square-foot storage and examination facility. The 100 extra-fragile silk flags are preserved in a custom-built flat storage system. In the 1990s, the Museum embarked upon a systematic program to conserve the flag collection and increase research and access to the flags. Requests for research information and access to the flag collection have steadily increased over the years. Individuals, researchers, authors and publishers all over the world seek out the Museum for research information on its flag collection.

The Confederate battle flag has been the topic of much discussion regarding its meaning and symbolism. We asked our historian, John Coski, to discuss the flag and its meanings. John is an acknowledged expert on the Confederate battle flag, and is author of The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem (2005, Harvard University Press). His answers can be seen in this video.

Across the first three industrial revolutions, increasing equality of opportunity brought about by each subsequent industrial revolution’s reconfiguration of economic forces has been a major driver of social mobility, leading to more inclusive and dynamic economies and societies over the long term.

For more people to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and navigate the transition towards a more inclusive economy, the present state of social mobility is not economically or socially desirable, nor sustainable

The economic dynamics of digital platforms, big data and automation are increasingly promoting market concentration and ‘winner-takes-all’ markets.

concerns that, without the proper guidance, education leaders and individual educators can adopt simplistic views of what it means to teach in culturally responsive ways

key scholars and teacher educators Gloria Ladson-Billings, Geneva Gay, and Django Paris

small group, ask students to brainstorm

Have them describe different family make-ups

Ask students what a biography is

who's perpetually in motion,

ho stares into space,

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