Alan November, an internationally known ed tech leader, author, designer, consultant, and speaker, sees an alarming disparity between his 17-year-old son’s personal and school life.

“At home,” writes November, “he picks his applications and easily moves from one to another. He is self-taught, self-directed, and highly motivated. He is locally and globally connected.” School, is a different picture. “He has no access in school to the tools he loves to use. In fact, he has been taught that they have nothing to do with learning.”

Calling schools “a reality free zone,” November observes,

But it is safe to say that Dan is not totally engaged at school. He is not self-directed or globally connected. For instance, he isn´t allowed to download any of the amazing academic podcasts available to help him learn, from "Grammar Girl" to "Berkeley Physics." He is not connected via Skype to students in England when he is studying the American Revolution, for example, which might create an authentic debate that could be turned into a podcast for the world to hear.

He cannot post the official notes that day so those who subscribe to his teacher's math blog via an RSS feed can read what's going on in his class. His assignments do not automatically turn into communities of discussion where students help each other at any time of the day. His school has successfully blocked the cool containers Dan uses at home from "contaminating" any rigorous academic content. It is an irony that in too many schools, educators label these effective learning tools as hindrances to teaching.

What might happen if education could co–opt these tools and help students learn and teachers teach with them? Read the complete article to learn more.