Typically they come to see buildings, spaces and furniture. They leave seeing the possibility for reconstructing their own learning spaces, pedagogy, teams and thinking.

I am witnessing teachers experiencing a new role – no longer the managers of behavior, but now the creative directors of curriculum delivery.

Someone who can sit down with a child and guide them in the applied use of a mobile device for learning and employment, provisioned with wireless Internet access, and at the right time of confidence and relational development, gift them with that device, remaining as their mentor and coach.

Artificial disciplinary boundaries were drawn, and research was put in silos that grew ever narrower. Therefore, you have scientists who study mice. You have scientists who study yeast. Institutional boundaries and funding incentives often discourage, rather than encourage people in different fields to collaborate. 

The interdisciplinary approach both to research and learning is starting to gain favor again because people are starting to recognize the dysfunction that is often apparent in large research institutions, but also because the small and nimble research labs are proving they have a method for speeding the pace and reducing the cost of discovery. 

knew that our buildings needed to move towards places where students learned to experiment and imagine INSTEAD of remaining places where students spend their days listening and memorizing.

Go and ask any high schooler taking AP classes how much "designing and creating" they do before their final exams.  Chances are, you'll hear a WHOLE lot more about the "memorizing and cramming."

If you REALLY want risk-taking teachers who spend their days showing kids how to design and create, then start DEMANDING that your elected officials -- who are the real power players in conversations about what's happening in our classrooms -- rethink what we're holding schools accountable for. 

But Lanier argues that we’d be better served by broad-based computer literacy courses that teach the logic behind our IT

“I have been here for about two months now and am enjoying the challenge. Much of what we are faced with in education is the same, but there is the international context that is terribly interesting. One of the characteristics of this system is that the high school is stuck, much like many of our high performing suburban high schools in the U.S. And as such, I’m pushing them to get outside of their own comfort zone and challenge old assumptions to do something different. As a result I am going to take a small R&D core team from the high school to do a ‘walk-about’ and look at some of the best practices of true high school reform.”

To increase buy-in for both types of students, the most important thing a teacher needs to do is help build individual accountability -- and, by extension, trust -- in student teams.

cite team dynamics and seemingly unfair assessment as the biggest frustrations.

students are resentful in situations when they are given one grade for a project in which four students contributed very different amounts.

Students said they want a greater mix of learning models, with less lecture and more direct interaction – and they reported that classroom time is moving in the right direction.  “I learn more and get more out of my educational experience when we use multiple methods,” said one student surveyed by CDW-G.

Students say technology will help them take ownership of their educational experience and will help them transition to the workforce. 

“I often got bored during traditional lectures where the teacher would just talk for the full class period,” said one student. “When we watch videos online or do hands-on projects I learn the material better and retain the information long term.”