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until these contingencies harden into technological necessities and become nearly unchangeable in future generations. There’s an old story that is basically true: Ordinary Roman carts were constructed to match the width of Imperial Roman war chariots because it was easier to follow the ruts in the road left by the war chariots. The chariots were sized to accommodate the width of two large war horses, which translates into our English measurement as a width of 4′ 8.5″. Roads throughout the vast Roman empire were built to this spec. When the legions of Rome marched into Britain, they constructed long distance imperial roads 4′ 8.5″ wide. When the English started building tramways, they used the same width so the same horse carriages could be used. And when they started building railways with horseless carriages, naturally the rails were 4′ 8.5″ wide. Imported laborers from the British Isles built the first railways in the Americas using the same tools and jigs they were used to. Fast forward to the US Space shuttle, which is built in parts around the country and assembled in Florida. Because the two large solid fuel rocket engines on the side of the launch Shuttle were sent by railroad from Utah, and that line transversed a tunnel not much wider than the standard track, the rockets themselves could not be much wider than 4′ 8.5.”

“So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of two horses’ arse.” More or less, this is how technology constrains itself over time.

In addition to the primary drive of preordained development (force #1), and in addition to the escapable influences of technological history (force #2), there is society’s collective free will in shaping the technium (force #3).

In a world-first, physicist and cosmologist, Professor Stephen Hawking, appeared at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on April 25 and 26 via DVEtelepresence Holographic Live Stage technology.

Technology partner, Cisco, provided a high definition video stream allowing guests at the Sydney Opera House to see and hear a seemingly three dimensional image of Professor Hawking, who was physically located at Cambridge University, UK.

Cisco delivered the live video stream of Professor Hawking between Cambridge University and the Sydney Opera House via its Cisco TelePresence C90 Codec and Cisco Expressway video collaboration technology, which are designed for lifelike and real time visual communications.

“I don’t buy into the fact that we can get a system – and this is not a popular belief – that can do the full analysis of what students need,” he said

“I value the teaching profession and I think they need to look at the data that’s put out in front of them, the information that’s cut in different ways and use their ‘neck top computer’ [brain] to make some sort of valued judgement as to what the data is saying.

“Information can give black or white positives or negatives, but without the analytical mind of the teacher over the top understanding the student, what’s happening at home and in the classroom, they [IT] actually miss some of that analysis.”

But that's the crux of the problem right there: lecture-demonstrations. Although there's a tech component here that makes this appear innovative, that's really a matter of form, not content, that's new. There's actually very little in the videos that distinguishes Khan from "traditional" teaching. A teacher talks. Students listen. And that's "learning." Repeat over and over again (Pause, rewind, replay in this case). And that's "drilling."

They point to studies that find while students receive these sorts of videos positively, they are actually learning very little or learning very superficially

Physics teacher Frank Noschese, for example, contrasts the video of Khan's explanation of force with a video documenting his students' exploration of force through hands-on experimentation.

We can no longer personally experience and acquire learning that we need to act. We derive our competence from forming connections.

“Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge

the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing.

we found that whiteboard animations have a positive effect on retention, engagement and enjoyment, although we do not rule out the possibility that some of this result is due to novelty

While animations have a long history in the realm of education, and there is a plethora of research on instructional animations, attempts to measure their impact on educational outcomes have been inconclusive and often contradictory (Betrancourt, 2005)

For practical applications, however, the relevant question is not whether animations affect learning, but rather when and how animation affects learning ( Höffler & Leutner, 2007; Mayer & Moreno, 2002)

The effective use of ICT allows for the development of highly creative and inspirational learning and teaching resources and activity programmes.

It is a dynamic medium which, when used appropriately by students and teachers, can significantly reinforce and deepen geographical knowledge and understanding.

Allows students to collect, display, communicate and evaluate findings in a highly creative and personal fashion. Supportive of independent learning.

Research also shows that students often juggle homework and entertainment.

At Woodside, as elsewhere, students’ use of technology is not uniform. Mr. Reilly, the principal, says their choices tend to reflect their personalities.

The technology has created on campuses a new set of social types — not the thespian and the jock but the texter and gamer, Facebook addict and YouTube potato. “The technology amplifies whoever you are,” Mr. Reilly says.

Where are the dire warnings about how the online world is depriving our teenagers of their opportunity to learn the skills needed to interact with people instead of screens while exposing them to all manner of bullying and cruelty, and tempting them to fritter away endless hours playing video games?

“Adults have tended to see time online for teenagers as this frivolous, time-wasting thing that’s just entertainment. But what we found is that it’s crucial for teenagers in forming and maintaining these really important relationships in their lives