At the same time, many schools continue to demonize cell phone use during school, which may be an outdated policy. Not only are there an increasing number of educational applications for mobiles but, as Blake-Plock suggests, prohibiting phones now means "disconnecting the kid from what's actually happening in most of our lives."

Students who are excluded from the digital universe know exactly what they're missing

"The digital divide, once seen as a factor of wealth, is now seen as a factor of education: Those who have the opportunity to learn technology skills are in a better position to obtain and make use of technology than those who do not."

Isaac raked the Gulf Coast with punishing winds and relentless rain, causing flooding that overtopped a levee south of New Orleans on Wednesday, the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.