The Media Spot

In his weekly Youtube.com video address, President elect Barack Obama announced that he is planning, as part of his economic recovery plan, to "put new computers in our classrooms" and give every child "the chance to get online", to enable our students to "compete in the 21st century (global) economy".

This is encouraging to those of us in education who believe that "21st century schools" must expand the traditional curriculum develop students' ability to critically analyze and communicate in new forms of media -- the same tools that the president-elect himself is using to communicate with the American people. 

Over the past few years, when I return to consult with schools in the fall, I notice that administrators and teachers, and the educational community in general, are a little more tuned-in to the role that schools must play in preparing students for the world full of flowing info and non-stop media messages they're heading into.