1996: Internet.

Both the promise and the peril of education. Broadband is on the march. Classroom 2.0 is in full swing, and personalized learning made possible by customizing programs and letting students move at their own pace is all the rage.

But Google and Wikipedia have replaced the library, teachers are  afraid that computers will replace them, kids are being mined for data, and they’re sending selfies to their friends from history class.  

Like it or not, it’s here to stay: 98 percent of schools had Internet access as of 2008 and that doesn’t even count all the smart phones sitting in the students pockets (or more likely in their hands).