Back to School 2.0

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While technology can give students tools to record experiences, it can also help bring other worlds into the classroom. "The whole idea of opening up vistas for kids that might never know the reality of another part of the country or another part of the world is absolutely critical," says Peter Grunwald of Grunwald Associates, a consulting firm that conducts studies on educator and family use of technology.

After fourth-grade students at Paine Intermediate School in Trussville read an article about how children in Africa were dying of malaria because they didn't have mosquito nets, they decided to raise money for the organization Nothing But Nets. Teachers then arranged a phone call over the Internet via Skype to Sarah Koch, a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, who had once ridden a bike several hours to take a baby sick with malaria to the nearest clinic for help.

Not only are pupils using tech to broaden their own horizons, but they're also harnessing it to broadcast their own stories. Mabry Middle School in Marietta, Ga., welcomed visitors from all over the world after students began creating online video documentaries on weighty subjects such as stem-cell research and elephants in captivity. The project began in 2001 after then-principal Tim Tyson grew frustrated that teachers relied heavily on conventional teaching techniques while computers in classrooms sat idle. Apple (AAPL) agreed to provide training on how to create digital films, and Tyson decided to create a schoolwide film competition. The school began posting the videos online two years ago and serves up an average of 1.5 million files per month.

Ensuring Safety and Educational Value

Weaving emerging technologies such as chatting and social networking into the curriculum plays well into students' out-of-school interests. About 96% of students with online access report they've used social-networking technologies such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities, according to a study by Grunwald Associates that was conducted with support from Microsoft, News Corp. (NWS), and Verizon (VZ). Of those students, 71% use such tools weekly.

The risk, of course, is that cool gadgets or access to the Web become a distraction in the classroom—or worse, a threat to kids' safety. About 52% of all school districts in the U.S. specifically prohibit any use of social-networking sites in school. Many parents and teachers are afraid of inappropriate content their children might see online as well as possible exposure to online predators. Those fears are apparently well-founded. About 1 in 5 children online is sexually solicited, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which has created www.netsmartz.org to teach children, parents, and educators about online safety.

Many schools impose guidelines for the use of technology in classrooms, rather than banning the tools altogether. "A 9-year-old needs serious protection and needs to be guided, but by 18 or 19, kids need to form their own philosophical compass to guide them," says Don Knezek, chief executive of the International Society for Technology in Education, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance the effective use of technology in schools. In Grapevine, Ark., the Hudsons load the iPods with videos and don't let children take them home. For the laptop users, the educators issue guidelines on Internet safety and enter into a contract with students and their parents. One stipulation: The machines will be taken away if they're used inappropriately.

For now, the children are excited to have something to do on the long commute and the Hudsons are applying for a grant to extend the pilot program to other buses. In the Sheridan School District alone, students are bused in from an area more than 600 square miles, as a result of school consolidation that has taken schools out of smaller, local communities. The question is how to manage all the time on the bus. "Schools don't have that time, they're buried in No Child Left Behind accountability," says Billy Hudson, referring to federally mandated school testing requirements. Instead, he says, the Aspirnaut Initiative is a way to put the one-room schoolhouse back in the community, virtually.

Rachael King is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in San Francisco.