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For its conclusions, however, the Education Department considered only a small number (51) of independent studies that met strict criteria.

The use of video or online quizzes -- frequently encouraged for online education -- "does not appear to enhance learning,"

Using technology to give students "control of their interactions" has a positive effect on student learning, however. "Studies indicate that manipulations that trigger learner activity or learner reflection and self-monitoring of understanding are effective when students pursue online learning as individuals,"

"Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning,

In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages

Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged educators to consider the report's findings. “This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes and consider open-source learning management systems, which have proven cost effective in school districts and colleges nationwide,”

"It gives people greater opportunity for flexibility, for experiential learning, for illustrating things in multiple ways such as visualization." What the study demonstrates, she said, is that colleges need to think broadly about using online education,

"This report correctly recognizes that online learning and blended learning are growing components of higher education and, employed properly, can play a significant role in promoting student learning.

These results demonstrate why more research is needed

Successful education has always been about engaging students whether it is in an online environment, face to face or in a blended setting. And fundamental to that is having faculty who are fully supported and engaged in that process as well."

In many ways, amplified individuals, organizations and their practices are enabling pedagogies born in the early 20th century that have not been able to find expression in the current educational system.

Many educators venturing into the amplified world find that modes of learning using social and collaborative platforms are downright inspiring - encouraging the reasons that they chose to teach.

However, education decision-makers must work to close not just the digital divide - access and familiarity with digital technologies - but also the participation gap - comfort engaging in a culture of contribution, connectivity, sharing, and massive collaboration.

Open collaborative platforms enable distributed teams and loosely connected networks to self organize and form ad hoc structures to solve problems and implement strategies.  By circulating resources openly and broadly through social networks, information tends to find the right people at the right place at the right time that allows ad hoc leaders to emerge and apply relevant expertise more quickly.  Such an open, flexible structure facilitates collective sensemaking - a practice by which knowledge and expertise that may not have been visible can rise in response to critical issues. Tools ranging from Plazes (a system that lets your social contacts know where you are, what you’re doing and when) to Moodle (an open source courseware management system) allow knowledge workers, educators, learners to form their own smart mobs and self-led teams.  The transparency of these systems also helps support a culture of beta building - rapid innovation, in which participants of a social network, distributed team, or smart mob can see information, offer critique, and help iterate solutions and strategies.  Amplified organizations will be transliterate - capable of communicating across multiple media in ways that use specific media platforms and non mediated, face-to-face interactions to develop effective and creative messages.

Fears have been expressed that the bank will encourage teachers to skimp on planning, encouraging them to copy and paste material at the last minute like their more irresponsible students.

A star rating like that used by eBay will allow teachers to rank resources they have tried and approved, encouraging - as Iglesias puts it - "the cream to rise to the top".

Because the project is entirely open source, downloaded resources can be adapted and changed without fear of breaching copyright laws.

Developed with EU funding and pioneered in Spain, the bank's source code is free for other countries to use and copy.

To maintain quality assurance, all of the bank's resources will be vetted by local authorities and/or the national learning grid.

In the next academic year, all schools will have access to a new National Digital Resource Bank.

The idea is to pull together all the resources created by teachers, schools and public funding into one central location.

"We should be promoting tools rather than content," says Jenkins. "Students should be encouraged to be critical by remixing, commenting on and sharing the resources they are given. They should be creating their own content.