The average American teen texts a lot: 3,339 messages per month, according to a recent Nielsen survey. That's more than 130 of them a day, everyday or a text every 10 minutes, almost around the clock. However one looks at it, cell phones have revolutionized the way kids communicate. How should teachers respond? Historian Niall Ferguson's opinion…

Skype, Edmodo, iApps, and Shutterfly may sound like fantasy characters or mythical creatures from some futuristic novel. But the students at Paine Primary School in Trussville, Alabama, will gladly explain that these odd-sounding names belong to the Web 2.0 applications in which they are fast becoming fluent. For these kids--and those at other…