“All’s the world’s information” in the Palm of Every Student’s Hand

Elliot: In an act of pure serendipity I stumbled upon a fascinating interview by Tom Ashbrook  of Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.  Among the many provocative ideas Dr. Schmidt put forward, this one caught my attention: “Why do we teach the old way since all the world’s information is literally available on a [cellphone] … we should learn how to search…”
Cathie:  Succinctly put, Dr. Schmidt! 
Elliot:  But the problem with his idea is that students don’t have access to all the world’s information in school.
Cathie: The key phrase there is: in school. Outside of school they do. Outside of school students have their cellphones virtually glued to the palms of their hands. How ironic that in school, where we are explicitly learning about all the world’s information, students don’t have access to all the world’s information.
Elliot: Don’t tell me you are going to use Schmidt’s pithy observation to support the use of cellphones in the classroom?
Cathie: You always did have a keen sense for the obvious.
Elliot: Thank you.
Cathie: How would schools be organized if the starting assumption is that every student does have access to “all the world’s information” all the time during school?
Elliot: Well, I think the  role of the textbook changes; the role of the test changes; the role of the teacher changes.
Cathie: And, the role of the student changes!
Elliot: The really amazing thing is this: those changes are in the works as we speak. Within 5 years every student in every grade in every school in America will have, literally in the palms of their hands, “all the world’s information.”
Cathie: How many people do you think believe that prediction Elliot?
Elliot:  I don’t know, but I’ll bet the ones that don’t will let us know!