Texting, web-surfing, and iPods are just new versions of passing notes in class, reading novels under the desk, and surreptitiously listening to Walkmans. They are not the problem. They are just the new forms in which we see it. Fortunately, they allow us to see the problem in a new way, and more clearly than ever, if we are willing to pay attention to what they are really saying.

In short, they tell us that our walls no longer mark the boundaries of our classrooms.

We just have to stop pretending that the walls separate us from the world, and begin working with students in the pursuit of answers to real and relevant questions.