| If you are a K-12 teacher, you know how | | | | User friendly page layout programs, presentation |
| important having the right instructional materials is. | | | | software, desktop video creation and editing was |
| Through the 1960's, the main instructional | | | | turning individual teachers into publishers of |
| resource for teachers was the classical textbook. | | | | instructional materials which were laser targeted |
| But in 1957 the world changed; the Russians | | | | to the specific needs of their own students. |
| launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit | | | | No longer were teachers dependent on |
| the Earth. The United States took notice. Caught | | | | "one-size-fits-all" curriculum texts as their primary |
| off guard, the U.S. government pumped millions of | | | | instructional delivery system. And, with the advent |
| dollars into projects to create new curriculum | | | | of YouTube and similar video hosting/sharing |
| materials, in an attempt to revitalize schools. | | | | networks, teachers from around the globe could |
| Special emphasis was placed on mathematics and | | | | share their own teaching methods with thousands |
| science curricula. | | | | of their peers with a click on a keypad. |
| The U.S. did catch up. And--for decades we took | | | | Teachers can now exchange lesson plans, |
| the lead in the space race. But by the late 1970's | | | | presentations, lectures and activities with their |
| the world began another metamorphosis--a | | | | peers instantaneously. Not only can educators give |
| revolution in information--how we organize and | | | | their great ideas wing with which to fly--they can |
| share it. From the rise of personal computers in | | | | now fly high and far. |
| the late 1970's, to the development of the world | | | | The power of this lies in the fact that instructional |
| wide web in the mid 1990's--the transference of | | | | aids developed by teachers can be targeted to |
| information by the printed word was being | | | | specific outcomes individual districts have identified |
| challenged--massive amounts of information could | | | | as vital to students within that district. |
| now be transmitted digitally and instantaneously. | | | | And--in an age where federal funding is tied to |
| By the time 2000 got here, many teachers had | | | | student outcomes--the ability of teachers to |
| realized that the dominance of the traditional | | | | target these outcomes has become exceedingly |
| textbook was also being challenged. It had | | | | important. The classical textbook isn't dead, but it |
| become not only feasible, but actually quite easy | | | | no longer reigns supreme as the primary |
| to develop their own instructional materials by | | | | instructional resource in many classrooms. |
| electronic means. | | | | |