Wow…what a day! I never cease to be amazed by how fast technology is moving and how many powerful tools we have at our disposal to affect education, tools that we never could have even imagined just a few years ago. I will never forget how much my grandfather loved technology and how much he believed in it as a tool to inspire the next generation. This morning I was able to combine both technology and education with some pretty exciting results.

Through my work with EarthEcho International and my role as chief spokesperson for environmental education for Discovery Education, the #1 provider of K-12 broadband-delivered educational content to U.S. schools, I hosted a live virtual expedition from the Seattle Aquarium that was broadcast to almost 50,000 elementary school students in the state of Texas. It was such a hit we crashed their system because so many schools logged on. In one hour, we worked through learning objectives for the students to bring science alive. This was a test and it worked beautifully. We had to limit it to elementary schools but next year we will open it to other states and all grades and I am confident we are pioneering a whole new frontier of education.

This is the future and I am tremendously excited! Unlike past virtual expedition programs, I was able to have two-way communication with students and we tailored the program to align with state education standards for K-5th grade, piping the feed directly into classrooms. It was an amazing experience and I know we inspired a lot of kids today.

I think my grandfather would have been astounded at how far technology has come in the 13 years since he passed away and that he would agree with me that the possibilities are endless…

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