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The key sentence for me is in the second paragraph:"And the plan envisions a fundamental change in the role of teachers, making them less a lecturer at the front of the room and more of a guide helping students through lessons delivered on computers" - I see that as not just related to technology but to the new strucyure for how classrooms should be organized. To make technology the scapegoat for this new organization is deflecting from the bigger issue of how to teach effectively, through lecture or through inquiry-based, project based, and constructivist methodologies.

Truly amazing notetaking software. I've used it for my grad school classes and personal notetaking. We have this software installed on every RCS computer, and you can install it on your own devices for free. From their site: "Save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see. Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there. Search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images."

very cool - I'm sharing it with my girls too :)

Programming made easier

Good thoughts on setting goals for technology use in a school, rather than allowing the technology to define the school's goals. "In the end, our advice is: be sure your school defines clear goals for what it seeks to achieve by having computing devices in the hands of its students."

"suggestions for keeping students engaged in a project and accountable for their time with computers"

"A blended learning approach combines face to face classroom methods with computer-mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach." Leads to more links about blended learning as well.

"My 11 year old son just took a course at Stanford. That has a nice ring to it but it is actually meaningless because these days anyone can take a course at Stanford. You don't even have to pay. All you need is access to a computer and a reasonable Internet connection. So what we can say is my 11 year old son just watched a bunch of videos on the Internet. That doesn't make for an interesting post except that this 'bunch of videos' is currently being heralded as the future of higher education." Joshua Gans, Forbes, 5/7/12

"the school's chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home."

Good background information on blended learning. Pay particular attention to the footnotes.

Good tutorial resource about using Diigo