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Suddenly, it became clear how 21st-century thinking was far more important than the mounds of content we were expected to force-feed our victims (I mean students)

but that is not what his handouts say.

It takes hard work to teach this stuff, and even harder work, by poorly motivated adolescents, to learn it.

In the fall of 1996, thirty-three students in a social studies course at California State University in Northridge were randomly divided into two groups; one taught in a traditional classroom and the other taught virtually on the Web. The teaching model wasn't changed fundamentally -- texts, lectures and exams were standardized across the two groups. Despite this, the Web-based class scored, on average, 20 percent higher. The Web class had more contact with one another and was more interested in the class work. Web class members also felt that they understood the material better and that they had greater flexibility in how they learned.ii The ultimate interactive learning environment will be the Web and the Net as a whole. It increasingly includes the vast repository of human knowledge, tools to manage this knowledge, access to people, and a growing galaxy of services, ranging from sandbox environments for preschoolers to virtual laboratories for medical students studying neural psychiatry. Today's baby will learn tomorrow about Michaelangelo by walking through the Sistine Chapel, watching him paint, and perhaps stopping for a conversation. Elementary school students will stroll on the moon. Medical students will navigate through your cardiovascular system.

Already, major advancements in--and support for--digital textbooks have occurred in Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, California, and Texas. For example, thanks to a new state law (H.B. 4294) that allows districts to use state funds to buy the technical equipment to support the use of electronic texts or instructional materials, Texas is becoming a leader in using digital resources.

Steve Hargadon, the creator of the popular Classroom 2.0 Ning, believes that social networking portends dramatic changes for teachers. "There are huge ramifications for teacher professional development," he says. "It is hugely positive. Social networking creates an easy place to enter and use, and literally within five minutes you're up and running with a community."

The English Companion Ning, launched by acclaimed English teacher and author Jim Burke in December of 2008, is a prime example of social networking's potential to galvanize teachers.

Burke's Ning exceeded his expectations for a virtual meeting ground. In roughly six months, The English Companion Ning, which Burke refers to as "the world's largest English department, without the meetings," catapulted to close to 6,000 members of all ages and levels of teaching experience from five continents