In the early days of the Revolutionary War, a loud voice called out from the darkness warning the locals of an impending change in their relatively peaceful lives. This call, by Paul Revere, informed the community of the ensuing war to come.

I think the relatively calm educational world is about to be revolutionized, but not by some outside entity wanting to impose its will, like legislation often does. This revolution is coming from within, from the students and their affordable, small and connected netbooks!

The revolution has been happening for a while. After all, this is the digital age of education. However, previously, there were barriers: the cost of technology, portability and access. These obstacles no longer exist! Netbooks and Internet Service Providers have made it possible to carry a portable computer that is no bigger than a day planner. It connects to the rest of the world for as little as $200 and a service contract. In the hands of the student, this becomes a very formidable tool to stay connected to all that is important.

Teachers and principals need to quickly ask how they will deal with this new tool that students will be carrying. We have been down this technological road before.

Let’s reflect on the 1980s innovation of the pocket calculators. Remember how cool it was to spell words upside-down? Many math teachers were certain that students would not learn their calculations and would cheat on tests. Calculators were banned from the classroom. However, today, a student cannot take a high school math class without a scientific calculator. The calculator went from rejected to expected in two decades.

Will the netbooks suffer a similar challenge? Will they be rejected or expected? It really depends on the attitude and practice of the classroom teacher along with the policy set by the school. Will schools embrace the revolution or shun it away as a banned device? Or, will teachers finally make the move to a digitally rich curriculum, which engages kids and uses these digital tools. Rejected or Expected?

Like it or not, kids will be coming to school with these inexpensive netbooks. If encouraged, they can capture notes, produce and edit papers, develop presentations and find information. If empowered, students will take the given curriculum to explore, discover, analyze, evaluate, create and publish new content.

You see, it really isn’t the netbooks that are coming — it’s the digital kids that are coming with their netbooks. Will you be ready?