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Netbooks are essentially mini-laptops that combine the physical characteristics of a cell phone with the capabilities of a traditional laptop, overcoming nearly all of the hardware obstacles to continuous student technology use in the classroom.

But hardware is only half of the picture. Open-source software is the answer to achieving cell phone reliability and ease of use on a device. With Linux and open-source software on netbooks, all the complexities of typical proprietary operating systems can be stripped away, leaving elegant, cell-phone like interfaces of simple icons, with reliable and secure underpinnings that are not prone to failure, malware, or general instability.

Through the use of free, open-source applications, students gain access to a diverse set of tools and resources for content creation, and teachers are empowered to challenge students to demonstrate subject area mastery using any one of a variety of tools and contexts. Since the software is free to distribute, students can install the same programs on any computer they have access to, creating an environment in which teachers can have a reasonable expectation that technology-based activities and assignments can be completed regardless of the student's location. And free classroom management tools enable teachers to monitor student activity, communicate privately or with groups, take control of a workstation, start a demonstration from theirs or any student's machine, and garner the attention of the class at a moment's notice, all through an easy to use interface on the teacher's workstation.

The five students around the table will be able to plug in their handhelds to the table, slide open the tabletop to reveal keyboards, and work communally via the computer which is projecting both independent and shared aspects of a desktop into a large translucent globe in the center of the table. In the globe, the students can move things around to see their own work as well as the individual work of their peers and the communal site. The teacher, or any student in the room, or any expert anywhere in the world invited into the class, can also 'take over' each globe for whatever purpose of presenting ideas.

And most importantly, the key is to make the Web-based side of the learning literally transparent to everyone -- students and teachers alike.The Web after screens.I've even got a tagline: Why stare at a screen when you can share the globe?

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