Al infinito, y mas alla, or Ch. 9

On 178, it talks about harnessing data, and wonders, why there isn't an education company that can use a model similar to Ebay or Amazon. In a way, there is. I can't remember the name of the product, but it actually grades writing and provides feedback and exercises to increase different areas of need. Wow! Instead of feeling threatened, as some of my colleagues were, I thought, where can I get that? If a student is constantly making the same grammar error, I have to sit down, correct it, give a mini-lesson, run off some exercises, and then go over them. This program does all of that, on its own.
I like the blissful optimism at the end of the Long Tail. Someday we might have infinite curricular options, as technology will set us free. Keep in mind, before the internet, there were still millions of books, many of them written by Americans. I am only able to teach 15 different novels. Curricular freedom seems to come and go, depending on the political tide. I don't think the access to different literature is going to help. Differing viewpoints on the literature we are allowed to study, will, so in that regard it will liberate how the preset curriculum is viewed.
I think that open source software will continue to thrive.
I like the section called textbooks. I have textbooks in case the power goes out. Other than that, it's all online. With that comes the responsibility to become an online creator. I am not saying every teacher should be able to write code. I am saying that even though I don't know how to make a battery, I know how to hook one up. I know how to change the oil, and the filter, even if I don't know how to cast the steel to make the engine. There is a need for professional development so that we can learn how to change the spark plugs.
If you've read any of my other posts, you probably know how I feel about nationwide broad band and net neutrality. Yes, and yes.
At the end of it all, we need to be as open-minded as possible about the possibilities of the internet. Some of the statements from just one decade ago, seem narrow-minded to the point of being anachronistic. These days, everyone is teaching Sci-fi.