How should schools choose devices to run all the great programs we're talking about? Despite the title, this article includes criteria as well as the author's own answer.

Following on the mention of the new Common Core assessments - PARCC and Smarter/Balanced - here's an article for educators about the current state of development.

Interesting conversation with the CEO of Rocketship, a blended-learning-focused charter school organization. "We should all focus on personalized learning and obsessing daily with how we ensure our students are spending large chunks of their day (80%+) in their optimal zone of learning-meaning exactly at their level. I would bet that students in countries that lead the world in achievement spend maybe 25-40% of their time in these optimal zones. Technology is an incredible tool in this work as there are online programs that immediately allow a student to access content in their optimal zone. Again-technology is not the complete answer, but it is definitely part of the solution."

I'm sharing this more for an example of author bias & incentives in writing about edtech, than because I think he's right: he doesn't think tech will replace teachers at all. (Keep in mind who his customers are.)

A different way of thinking about what educational technology is "transformational."

If you like your learning aurally -- this is a good hourlong documentary (yeah, you could read it too, but what's the point?) downloadable as a podcast or playable through the web.