My Essay for the Samsung 2007 Hope For Education Contest

Recently, my wife asked me to draft an essay for the "Samsung 2007 Hope For Education Contest" that answers the following question:

"What is the single most significant benefit that technology can provide in the classroom?" Essays should focus on: 1) a single benefit or improvement to the educational process, 2) the specific types of technologies that will create this benefit and 3) the features of these technologies that create value in the educational process.

Here's the tricky part...the finished piece can be no more than 100 words! I used 97.

Here's what I came up with:

"The most significant benefit that technology can provide in the classroom is global connectivity. Students can be anywhere, at any time. Whether they are absorbing knowledge from today’s cutting edge research or interviewing societies for tomorrow’s geography project, the latitude of Internet connectivity is unlimited. Our world is moving, changing. Students can travel with a rainforest biologist as she blogs about her daily discoveries. They can gain insight through an Egyptologist’s webinar concerning a recently-discovered tomb. Through technology, students gain access to a global community of experts and resources that could never be offered in yesterday’s classroom."

FYI: this entry was submitted 05-13-07, and the contest closed 07-22-07...so don't get any ideas!