The New York Times magazine was devoted to technology and education this week. Yay! Too bad the articles were worthless, except for the interview with Arne Duncan.

The magazine devoted way too much time to sexy gadgetry (A Pen That Helps You Take Notes!!) and silly philosophies (Let's Just Let the Kids Learn By Playing Video Games!!) All that stuff is fine. Gadgetry and cute curriculum mashups (William Shakespeare Meets Facebook!!) is just fine for average middle class kids. This stuff won't hurt kids in good schools, because they are actually reading Shakespeare and learning how to take notes. Technology becomes toxic when teachers are forced to use it in their curriculum or when video games entirely replace reading.

It's too bad, but the Times didn't give enough attention to the real, albeit unsexy, applications of technology in education, such as distance learning. Year ago, I interviewed teachers in rural Wisconsin who told me about satellite classrooms in the country for kids who lived too far from traditional schools. The kids did all their classwork on the computer, so they didn't have a two hour bus ride every day.

These satellite classrooms could also work in urban areas. City kids don't have a hard commute, but their lives can't conform to a typical school day.

When my buddy, Suze, was doing her student teaching in Manhattan, she taught a first period English class. Even though there were supposed to be 30+ kids in the room, she usually taught just a handful of students. Some kids would trickle in during the class, but most didn't show up at all. The school didn't even take attendance until third period in order to boost their attendance rates.

These kids were from families that didn't go to bed until late and didn't have adults that forced the kids to go to school on time. Sometimes the entire family would go to the Dominican Republic for a month right in the middle of the school year.

Wouldn't those kids be better served by online education? They could complete their studies at their own pace. Maybe they needed to attend school from 11 to 5. They could go to a satellite classroom, log on, do their studies. Maybe there would be some teachers who could walk around and answer questions. 

The promise of technology and education isn't sexy. It isn't a talking pen. It should be about bringing in the kids who are lost in the present system.