In today’s world, information is available at our fingertips. Between news feeds, search engines, and online databases, the answer to almost any question is only a few clicks away. We can go from reading an eBook to checking a fact online without ever having to take our eyes off of a screen. Most amazingly, we can access this information at anytime from anywhere. Less than 10 years ago our portal to information was limited to a desktop computer hardwired into the internet. But today we can carry our computer in our pocket. Be it phone or tablet, wireless connection or cellular data plan, we can connect to the world in an instant, reaching out to the world and collecting information from it. Go to www.aacps.org for more information.

Through the power of the cloud technology and the increasing prevalence of mobile technologies, we are almost always connected to people and organizations around the world, sharing everything from pictures to information to commerce. In fact, often the amount of available information is overwhelming. It is estimated that the internet contains over 1.4 billion pages, each filled with what someone—either credibly or not—considers worthwhile information. This plethora of information is available in addition to the constant stream of tweets, updates, and emails lighting up our device throughout the day.

This is the world in which our students grew up. They wake up to it and go to sleep with it, moving from Facebook to Buzzfeed to Google in seconds, constantly checking up on friends and facts online. To these students, technology is the norm. They are often given access to technology at a young age and so expect to have access to it as part of their daily lives. That is, until they enter the school building where their Kindle eReader is replaced by an outdated textbook and their phone is replaced by a clunky desktop computer.

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