After listening to David Warlick’s Keynote at the K12 Online Conference this past Monday, I thought of another metaphor for capturing our students interests and our curriculum.

A subway has two rails that guide the car and a third rail that provides the power and electricity. Traditional content and curriculum can be thought of as the guide rails for the subway cars (our classrooms)while the third rail (Web 2.0 and other interactive technology) provides the excitement that gets our students going. Our classrooms can provide a safe place for students to use this third rail. Much like someone who explores the subway tunnels is likely to get hurt or lost when they are not within the confines of a subway car, our students are exploring that third rail now and are making mistakes that may hurt them. Yes there is some danger in using the third rail but with education our students (and our teachers) will be better for it. In addition our classrooms can be the exciting places we want them to be rather than just coasting along.

Its time for teachers (and administrators) to join the students in exploring the third rail in their classrooms.

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