From Chalk to Stylus: Better Teaching Through Gadgetry

We make plans via text message, catch up with our friends on Facebook and exercise with our Wii. So it should come as no surprise that Nintendo and program developer Sharp System Products (which developed Nintendo's Wii Fit) have partnered to create a classroom platform using the Japanese gaming company's portable DS (dual screen) console.

Nintendo DS Classroom will launch in Japan next year, allowing teachers with PCs to interact with their DS-wielding students — making actual conversation even less relevant in the digital age. But if you can't get them to put their gaming consoles away and pay attention, why not reach out to them using those same devices? The forthcoming system will allow a teacher to wirelessly beam questions, graphics and other curriculum-based information to students, who can then reply to those questions and interact with the teacher.

There is this great invention called spoken language, which has been around for thousands of years and works without electricity, but apparently has fallen out of favor with today's youngsters. However, DS Classroom does promise to offer a few advantages over that antiquated means of communication. For example, students can reply to general questions all at once — quietly — without that same smarty pants kid blurting out the answer each time.

It's the way of the future, but it begs the question: Why even go to school at all?