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The first automobiles were really horseless carriages, designed on the same frame as a horse-drawn carriage and with power defined in horsepower. The capabilities of these early contraptions were limited, and the infrastructure to support this new form of mobility was slow to develop as the early car owners rattled across the ruts and sank into the mud of unpaved and poorly maintained roads. These days, our society is built around the mobility provided by today's automobiles, and we are seeking to expand the infrastructure to accommodate battery-powered vehicles. How close is this analogy to the early stages of experimenting with cyberspace? I think the two stories are very similar, and I look forward to the day when the ruts in the cyberspace highway have been smoothed for a true community of learners to improve our world.

As much as some people may yearn for the simpler times of the past, life will continue to move forward as the natural order of society requires.

If we do not take time to understand new information and how it interacts with what we do, we, as a profession, may go the way of typewriters, photographic film, super 8 film, 8 track cassettes, landline telephones, or block-ice refrigeration.

Staying up-to-date, relevant, on information in your own profession is a moral imperative. We can’t expect what we learned as college students to carry us through a 30 or 40-year career.

ultimate result with this shift has been increases in engagement as well as a sense of relevancy and meaning amongst learners, all of which are foundations for improving achievement.

some of the reasons for not embracing technology have to do with several misconceptions revolving around fear.

time excuse seems to rear its ugly head more than any other reasoning to not move forward with technology

what we consider to be technology, is totally dependent on when it was introduced into our lives.

Rarely do we refer to it or even think about the car as technology, because it has always been with us.

Educators should not be so arrogant as to think they have the ability to decide whether or not kids can use these tools for learning. The kids do it with, or without adult permission. Any educator has the right to choose to live in a cave, however, they do not have the right to drag their students in there with them.

How on earth does a teacher create an engaging lesson for 32 different learners, especially when each learner carries his own individualized learning style? It’s at this very point that tablet integration gets exciting.

When the correct apps are applied to the appropriate subject on a creative touchable interface, learners are free to work at different paces, in the same class and with the same teacher. The teacher then becomes free to work with the different ability groups, and to focus on developing the day’s curriculum.

I’m hoping that teachers continue to welcome the forthcoming opportunities in digital education. The tablet interface and app potential is a great step forward for the brilliant educators across the world.

The potential of personalized learning technology—as evidenced in the military, gaming, corporate training, and informal learning—suggest the potential going forward is much greater that what we’ve seen to date.  When technology is used to extend, personalize and transform learning, it makes a world of difference.

As we push forward with the digital transformation of education, it's worth taking a look at just how greatly technology can impact teaching and learning in this country -- and what's at stake, not just for our students but our society as a whole.

students thirst for connections between what they're learning in the classroom (and how) and what they see happening in the real world

Increasing engagement is about

As needs change over time, addressing them might mean switching devices (remaking the choice). As schools progress in their technology implementation, they may find that their needs have changed, and should not hesitate to change devices as their understanding of their students’ needs develops. This seasonal view of devices (rather than “device as school identity”) is essential to helping schools move forward, meet their current students’ needs, and keep the curriculum relevant and timely for the future. A focus on pedagogy and key technology skills will transfer from one device to another, making the shift easier; a focus on being a device expert, or mastering device specific mechanics, will not. Students will graduate into a world that will demand technological fluency, the ability to move and process information across various platforms and devices.

Now more than ever, educators are coming forward and speaking about the benefits of using Twitter, and why they personally endorse it.

Apple announced a new iPod Touch complete with a forward-facing camera, for video conferencing, as well as a rear-facing HD camera for movie making.

The future of Social Business is networks,’ ‘The future of education is networks,’ ‘The future of society is networks.’

but it feels like we’re nearing a point where something must change if we’re to move forward.

It’s literally NEVER been fully globally connected, until now.

Still, talking to strangers is different from handing over a set of your house keys. We’re learning how to draw the line between those extremes, and it’s a line that each of us will draw in different ways. That we get to make these decisions for ourselves is a step forward; the valley is a much richer and more connected place than the old divide between privacy and celebrity worship was. But it is going to take some time to learn how to live there.