I read these articles with great interest. While reading them certain things came to mind.
I thought about my own youth and being excited about the technology of the day. Needless
to say the technology of that time is to the present as the Jurassic era is to the present. I
thought about my first encounter with a cell phone and how it was the size of a small
hero sandwich. I thought about my 16 year nephew and his facility with a cell and what
he uses it for. I also thought about my 8 month old daughter and wondered what technologies
will she grow up with. I teach 1st graders and interact with PK-6. A large number of these kids have smart phones and they are indeed intmately connected with them.

The point on all my ruminating is to think about how technology can potentially (and does) impact our individual classrooms and education overall. What strikes me more than ever
before is that the technological genie is out of the lamp and only a cataclysm of biblical
proportions will slow her progress. Another thought that occurred to me after reading
how kids are interacting with kids via these technologies is that teachers need to collaborate
with students rather than dictate the path that their education will take. Ask kids what
they want to learn (they're doing it anyway) and go with that flow. I don't think kids HAVE
to learn what we want them to learn, as long have they have basic skills sans technology. (Just like teachers, they should have a back up for when technology fails.) I think it's better that
we rethink our teaching and assessment to look for evidence of learning as opposed a
having them respond to a scripted curriculum.

The power of technology as a social and learning tool is undeniable. One could argue that
Obama won based in large part on the efforts of networking, technology using young people.