So you're proposing that for those students who have not yet been motivated to work hard as a result of a broken system, we should just keep trying to force the

So you're proposing that for those students who have not yet been motivated to work hard as a result of a broken system, we should just keep trying to force them through that system with no change? There are many, many reasons why the education system is not working, and there are many proposed solutions. No one solution is going to fix things, but they can contribute steps towards the overall solution. By dismissing all technology as nifty gadgets and refusing to even consider changing a broken system for a new generation, you're giving up before even trying. One reason the educational system isn't working anymore is the behavioral changes in children that have been encouraged through cell phone and social networking usage. It's been shown that face-to-face discussion is intimidating and harmful to brainstorming or learning effectiveness [1]. This is why children and young adults prefer texting and communicating through Facebook over face-to-face socializing or even phone calls. Despite this fact, the size of classrooms continue to grow as we cram more and more students together to fight for the instructor's attention and to discuss topics in front of each other. Then we sit back and wonder, why students are intimidated and are unable to learn. We have a classroom full of unengaged students staring blankly at an instructor, we know that they're intimidated to engage and ask questions in front of such a large group, and we know that they already have mobile devices on them that they are comfortable communicating and engaging with in large groups. But instead of taking advantage of those devices, you (and everybody else) seem to want to ignore everything and just keep trying to force students through a system that's not working for them anymore. [1]: http://books.google.com/books?id=RNiFM9br5PwC&lpg=PP1&dq=medici%20effect&pg=PA108#v=onepage&q=osborns%20claim&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=RNiFM9br5PwC&lpg=PP1&#3...