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HOWEVER, none of this, for a moment, displaces the teacher. On the contrary, it amplifies teacher skills. It may also facilitate the ability for teachers to play to their strongest card:

We should not try to recreate what Salman Khan of the Khan Academy and others are doing so brilliantly, namely to meticulously build up entire curricula on video. No. TED is known for its ability to evoke curiosity, wonder, and mind-shifting insight.  That should be our prime goal here. Short lessons that spark curiosity.

Sync teaching using technology is valuable because the analogous method of sync teaching without technology is effective. The appropriate enabling technology, especially when combined with the “abundance of engaging and flexible learning resources on the Internet,” becomes a way to amplify a tried and true method.

For instance, in the Maine math study, it is hard to separate the effect of the laptops from the effect of the teacher training.

one-to-one laptop programs may simply amplify what’s already occurring — for better or worse,

As Mr. Share says in the signature file at the bottom of every e-mail he sends: “It’s not the stuff that counts — it’s what you do with it that matters.”

iGeners are almost universally plugged in. Ear buds hang from backpacks, and cell phones are stuffed into every pocket. Instant communication has replaced listening to messages, streaming video has replaced waiting for television shows to start, Xboxes have replaced Ataris, digital images have replaced negatives, and high-speed connections have replaced dial-up modems.

iGeners aren’t always the best students, however! Working quickly instead of carefully, they infosnack their way through class, flitting from instant experience to instant experience. Reading deeply, considering multiple perspectives and interacting with others in meaningful ways is pushed aside in a race for immediate gratification.