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"I think we need to consider the role of teachers in the classroom," she replies in a soft voice. "We are headed toward a teacherless classroom and must be guided by this fact." A teacherless classroom? I look around the table and hope one of the esteemed guests will ask her to clarify or possibly expand upon her statement. Instead, the guests just nod their heads in agreement. The strange little man interrupts. "I agree. Technology is making the traditional classroom teacher less relevant-possibly obsolete. Soon students will be learning at home from online classes on their laptops." I silently question who will be teaching the online classes.

The Harvard professor tugs at his chin with his right thumb and index finger and compliments the senator. "In the future," he says, "students will be learning at home using their computers. School buildings and classrooms will not be the primary learning environment." Really? Could any sane person envision millions of school children staying home and learning a full curriculum online? I foresee a stay-at-home mom or dad spending most of the day trying to keep their children away from Facebook.

Where do I begin? I spent the last thirty minutes listening to a group of arrogant and condescending non educators disrespect my colleagues and profession. I listened to a group of disingenuous people whose own self-interests guide their policies rather than the interests of children. I listened to a cabal of people who sit on national education committees that will have a profound impact on classroom teaching practices. And I heard nothing of value.

Gilpin will explain the nuances of social media and train students on how to best use these tools in a new class to be offered this fall – Media 2.0: Social Media. The 400-level class is open to all ASU students.“Social media is changing the way that we are communicating, in person and across space and time,” Gilpin said. “These things have pretty important cultural impacts.”The advent of social media can be compared to the era when television was introduced into living rooms across the country during the 1950s. Today, Americans and many citizens around the world expect immediate information and instant access to the people in their lives.Media 2.0: Social Media will explore the medium from the perspective of four cornerstones: cultural, economics and ownership, law and ethics, and privacy.

“You need to have your public persona be something that’s OK for an employer to look at,” Gilpin said. “You should be hyper aware of what you’re putting out there, but at the same time, it makes your message a little less authentic. You’re always thinking about the impression you’re going to make.”

Additional topics that will be covered include social media and journalism, crowdsourcing, government and publishing, and professional and personal branding.

With all the great resources, websites, articles and other helpful information for educators, it may sometimes be hard to keep track of all these items. Thankfully, e-books have recently been popularized as a way to give educators these educational tools and tips they want and need to help students learn. The best part about these books is that they can be read online, downloaded, printed or just saved for later. What better a way to integrate technology into the classroom than to start by doing it yourself. Here are a few e-books that will be sure to help integrate technology into the classroom and prepare students for the future.