Teachers responded thoughtfully to the post Business Talk to Teachers.

I’d like to repost some of them, so they don’t get lost. These teachers follow the spirit of what key business deciders expect of teachers. I’m confident others do too, but they did not post here. (I included the link to commenters that provided it with their post. You'll likely find useful information on their sites.)

Mary Tedrow wrote, I asked myself "What does a classroom offer that is not available to my students online?" My answer was "a real time interaction with peers who are struggling with the same curricular questions and tough questions that must be explored." Therefore my classroom has been restructured to reflect that (small groups, socratic seminars, writing to time constraints that asks students to grapple with large themes.)

Anthony Cody wrote, I think teachers have a critical role to play in setting challenges for students and building their skills to meet them, and online resources are just one element to be developed. … I am working on a new project in my district called POSIT. You can check it out at http://www.projectposit.org. We are working with 67 teachers grades 4 to 8, and each of them will be doing a teacher action research project in the coming school year along the lines you suggest. We will be sharing their projects online. … Nobody in this dialogue has all the answers, but we can always learn from the perspectives of others.

Amy Bailey wrote, … I agree. Teacher research is powerful and effective, …

Renee Moore wrote, Much public and private money has gone into the purchase of hardware, software, infrastructure...much less has gone into the development of the people who are to use these technologies.

Marsha wrote, I agree that we are in the midst of another crossroads as technology morphs and taking all of us (those in school and in the business place) to places we’d never dreamed of going. I think it is a new kind of silver bullet “hope” that we all long for and see in our future. I think many of the things … are addressed by CoSN’s work http://www.cosn.org/ in defining what school computing should look like and how we can maximize the return on our investment. … I do not believe that technology is the end goal.Simply using it doesn't guarantee the outcomes you mentioned as being important to business. But as an important component and when directly tied to curriculum/instructional targets, a well trained teacher can amplify learning to be sure. … I’d advocate for schools thinking through not only their (personal computer) purchase plans, but their implementation/evaluation policies, and setting aside larger training budgets/support budgets. … Buy less, train users how to really use it, hire people to support it/fix it when it breaks and know how you’re going to decide if it worked or not BEFORE you buy any piece of hardware/software…and I’ll bet you’ll have a much more effective disposition of technology resources.

Ellen Holmes wrote, In Maine, four years ago, we have moved to a one-on-one learning environment in our 6th through 9th grade classrooms. … no number of outside consultants could bring up the students' achievement. … making classess smaller so that significant, personal relationships could be developed (worked). Both teacher performance and student performance increased significantly when the focus was on the culture and relationships and not on the tools and software. These stronger relationships allowed for a renewed focus on learning that focused beyond state tests.

Kudos, Teachers. Your activities bring honor to student efforts. We all wish you well.

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