Touting the change from analog to digital television this past June, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps said, "We're going from the dinosaur age to the digital age." Because the original target date had been postponed nearly four months, Copps was clearly elated that the United States had finally made the leap into the 21st century.

I remember reading his words and wondering if the same comment could be said of our public educational system. While the term "Dinosaur Age" was not used, a TIME magazine article from December 10, 2006, titled "How to Bring Our Schools out of the 20th Century" alluded to this:

"American schools aren't exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks. Kids spend much of the day as their great-grandparents once did: sitting in rows, listening to teachers lecture, scribbling notes by hand, reading from textbooks that are out of date by the time they are printed. A yawning chasm (with an emphasis on yawning) separates the world inside the schoolhouse from the world outside."

Thankfully, some recent trends indicate this may be changing. An article titled "An Apple for Your Teacher" in the July 22 issue of The Wall Street Journal said schools are "looking beyond simply equipping classrooms with the latest gadgetry in favor of rethinking the way education is delivered. In some tech-equipped schools, teachers are playing a less-dominant role in the classroom, and technology is infused into every lesson."

That same article mentioned that the North Kansas City School District in Missouri plans to purchase mini-laptops for each of its 5,600 high school students. Jane Herdman, executive director of technology for the district, expressed her vision for these laptops. "It's no longer going to be ‘Turn to page 10 and look at this,'" she said. "The teacher is guiding, facilitating learning rather than lecturing. It's about teaching the curriculum using technology as your vehicle."

Though encouraging, the article maintained a tone of reality by saying that "the number of schools that are throwing out textbooks in favor of laptops is still in the minority." While this may be the case in the public system, it does not have to be true for Christian education!

At Alpha Omega Publications®, we truly thank God for the number of schools that stepped into the "digital age" several years ago by utilizing our Switched-On® curriculum. We are also encouraged by the numerous inquiries we have received in recent months. Visionaries from both small and large Christian schools all across the nation have sought our partnership in bringing Christ-centered technology into their classrooms. It is our prayer that others will catch the same vision and join together with us, as we continue to change education for the glory of God. May history record that Christian schools were the first to lead their classrooms out of the dinosaur age into the digital age.

Roy Faletti
Vice President of Educational Services