Please bring back the trains for long and short distances. In Europe there are high speed trains that operate very efficiently. Repairing tracks, refurbishing cars and coaches, as well as providing services on trains is a great way to make more jobs. In my opinion, trains are safer than planes. We need trains running not just along the coastlines but also cross-country.

These are my thoughts about technology partially providing the foundation for effective instruction. I realize that technology is only the vehicle and does not replace sound instruction.

I'd like to see faculty at our institutions of higher learning create specific computing competencies for academic disciplines in the seven liberal arts. The competencies should be based on outcomes from technology-rich pedagogy as well as computer literacy. All competencies should be reflected in appropriate coursework and aligned with learning outcomes of the university or college. The next logical step would be to create competencies for career-related academic areas.

I am a professional in the field of speech pathology in which experts have identified clinical computing competencies. The competencies are based on sound clinical practice that students have learned throughout their course of study. The competencies have a minor secondary focus on computer literacy. I also teach undergraduate courses that prepare students for graduate school and entry into the field and have incorporated these competencies into appropriate courses. The courses are aligned with program-level learning outcomes for the speech pathology program curriculum. Here at our university we have an institutional-level learning outcome that targets technology literacy. The clinical computing competencies are aligned with that outcome also.

Many educational agencies are recommending to President-Elect Obama that scarce resources be directed at positive change and be focused on professional development, technology enhancements, and research. As an instructional designer, I would like to see teachers taught to use technology-rich pedagogy undergirded by teaching expertise, enlightenment, and experiences. They can be taught this in electronic-based professional development workshops. I have developed workshops for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty. Electronic-based workshops are economical because you don't have to travel to attend. They are conducted over the internet in real-time and are interactive as well as audio and video supported. With a live virtual classroom such as the one at my university, the workshops could be attended by anyone from any place in the world that has internet access.

Many educational agencies are recommending to President-Elect Obama that scarce resources be directed at positive change and be focused on professional development, technology enhancements, and research. As an instructional designer, I would like to see teachers taught to use technology-rich pedagogy undergirded by teaching expertise, enlightenment, and experiences. They can be taught this in electronic-based professional development workshops. Are there any instructional designers that agree or disagree?

I am a wife, mother, university faculty member, teacher, author, and writer. Currently I am part of a grant that has one component that offers outreach to secondary students. The purpose is to offer activities that will hopefully better prepare students for college. I feel that more has to be done at the secondary level by having more certified teachers who can teach and who do teach. I suppose more funding is needed for teacher preparation programs or teacher preparation programs need to be redesigned with a focus on how to provide students with a world-class education before entering college.