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Technologies available in classrooms today range from simple tool-based applications (such as word processors) to online repositories of scientific data and primary historical documents, to handheld computers, closed-circuit television channels, and two-way distance learning classrooms. Even the cell phones that many students now carry with them can be used to learn (Prensky, 2005).

Bruce and Levin (1997), for example, look at ways in which the tools, techniques, and applications of technology can support integrated, inquiry-based learning to "engage children in exploring, thinking, reading, writing, researching, inventing, problem-solving, and experiencing the world." They developed the idea of technology as media with four different focuses: media for inquiry (such as data modeling, spreadsheets, access to online databases, access to online observatories and microscopes, and hypertext), media for communication (such as word processing, e-mail, synchronous conferencing, graphics software, simulations, and tutorials), media for construction (such as robotics, computer-aided design, and control systems), and media for expression (such as interactive video, animation software, and music composition). In a review of existing evidence of technology's impact on learning, Marshall (2002) found strong evidence that educational technology "complements what a great teacher does naturally," extending their reach and broadening their students' experience beyond the classroom. "With ever-expanding content and technology choices, from video to multimedia to the Internet," Marshall suggests "there's an unprecedented need to understand the recipe for success, which involves the learner, the teacher, the content, and the environment in which technology is used."

In examining large-scale state and national studies, as well as some innovative smaller studies on newer educational technologies, Schacter (1999) found that students with access to any of a number of technologies (such as computer assisted instruction, integrated learning systems, simulations and software that teaches higher order thinking, collaborative networked technologies, or design and programming technologies) show positive gains in achievement on researcher constructed tests, standardized tests, and national tests.

my inner worrywart wonders whether the new technologies overtaking us may be eroding characteristics that are essentially human: our ability to reflect, our pursuit of meaning, genuine empathy, a sense of community connected by something deeper than snark or political affinity.

“The generation that had information, but no context. Butter, but no bread. Craving, but no longing.”

before we succumb to digital idolatry, we should consider that innovation often comes at a price. And sometimes I wonder if the price is a piece of ourselves.

the iPad makes a terrific notebook — in the traditional sense. For me , the iPad has completely replaced the need for a pen and a pad of paper in meetings. I now take all my notes electronically with the iPad and can quickly and easily do several different things with the notes afterward

note taking is now one of the leading business functions of the iPad. It’s one of the reasons why the iPad has become a preferred tool for many people who spend a large chunk of their time in meetings

Critics counter that, absent clear proof, schools are being motivated by a blind faith in technology and an overemphasis on digital skills — like using PowerPoint and multimedia tools — at the expense of math, reading and writing fundamentals. They say the technology advocates have it backward when they press to upgrade first and ask questions later.

district was innovating

how the district was innovating.

Liora Bresler, a professor of curriculum and instruction in the U. of I. College of Education, says that the inherently performative and improvisatory aspects of teaching, along with the temporal, polyphonic aspects of scholarly research, compares favorably with musicianship.

"When you teach, you have a lesson plan, but you're not bound to follow it. You play, follow up, improvise and adapt, as the situation dictates. It's intellectual engagement, and you want to be engaging. So having a real, live audience makes a difference." Bresler said that the commitment to a third-party audience helps the teacher "see, perceive and make sense of what they're trying to communicate on a very different level."

Teachers have to act in real-time, in the moment, and have to make a lot of decisions on-the-fly.

need to move beyond the heavy reliance on text.

lot of digital books floating around, being hailed as amazing advancements in teaching and learning. Although I know the majority of materials currently available to students on their portable multimedia consumption devices are still primarily text-based, maybe including a static image or two (see Figure 3, a color, static digital page with a Venn diagram that is no different from the same page in the printed book5),

Mac owners broadly knew: that they see themselves as hip, liberal, verbally-oriented, more adventurous and more creative, while PC people see themselves as very mainstream, conservative (in the general sense of the term, not just politically), math-oriented and less comfortable overall with computers and technology.

Mac users can seem trendy, shallow, arrogant or pretentious -- the favourite soft drink picked by Mac users was San Pellegrino Limonata, while the PC users chose Pepsi -- and from a Mac person's view, PC users tend to be rigid, close-minded, conformist and boring.

Mac users are 80 percent more likely to be vegetarian; PC users prefer Harleys to Vespas by 70 percent; PC users love the cute captioned cats of I Can Haz Cheezburger, while Mac users get their smiles from Boing Boing