e-books, e-learning, e-education

     It used to be that you could count on school looking the same generation after generation.
- Rows of desks
- Teacher in the front
- Teacher talks
- Students listen
- Take out your books and read and answer the questions.

     But I envision a transformation in our nations public schools.  It is a transformation that will take place over a period of (perhaps) three to six years; a transformation that has already begun in some places.  I am talking about seeing less paper textbooks and much, much more electronic devices--both in the classroom and at home.

     These will be the tools of knowledge for our students.  The goal will be finding information, understanding information, using information, and creating things with this knowledge.  Students will learn about people in other countries and will communicate with these people while sitting in the classroom.  Students will learn about Physics and will create virtual simulations to test a theory.

     Education will be so much more than memorizing facts.  It will be exploring and learning and questioning and failing and trying again.  Students will learn by doings as well as by questioning.  We are past mere "e-books", we are talking about e-learning.  It is a transformation that will improve with every passing year.  As older teachers retire and newer teachers (digital natives) take their place, e-education will grow and mature.

     This is an exciting time to be in education!  This is a change that we want for our students; to prepare our students for their future.