The Open Source Thin Client seems to be a great product. It eliminates the need for many different individual computers and only requires one server. The Thin Clients then all pull off of that one server and act as a portal for each user. Much like logging on to a network computer on a University campus, the thin clients save each user’s desktop and program settings for each time they log on. This is great for making technology use in the classroom easier and much more affordable. If one of the Thin Clients break, or need to be replaced, it is an easy switch and it does not effect any of the other users. The only thing that the teacher or administrator would need to worry about is the server, that is where all of the different programs would be loaded to use. These seem like a great way to optimize technology and make it easy for teachers to use as well. I think that this type of technology could fit the NETS-S standard of technology operations and concepts. With this technology being in classrooms, the students would become quite proficient in using them on a daily basis.
Virtualization: operating multiple OS on one physical machine. Each OS exists as a file on the one computer. This is potentially a good idea because it actually ends up saving quite a bit of money and resources. Instead of having multiple machines each running one operating system, you can have all of those different systems loaded onto one machine. This, then obviously saves you from having to buy more than one physical computer. If you have different programs that you want to use in your classroom, but they are not compatible with the same operating system, virtualization could be a way to get around that. It is also a smart way to protect your important files and information, if you do a lot of downloading of files. You can split those up, keeping your important information on one OS and having your downloaded files on the other. Then only drawback could be the potential confusion that may come in a learning/teaching environment. You would just have to make sure everyone is logging on to the correct OS.
The popular Xbox Kinect software that uses gestures to interact with the game, is now coming to PCs. This gesture-based software is available and there is a push to get it into classrooms as well, for educational use. This software could put a very interesting spin on the “traditional” classroom. It could help facilitate and drive teachers and educators to potentially come up with some new ideas and new curriculum. This type of technology could help meet the NETS-T standard of facilitate and inspire student learning, as well as facilitating teacher creativity, by having such a different style of learning and engaging the students in a different way.
I personally found the last video to be the most interesting. The “Learning Analytics” brings up some incredibly interesting and somewhat scary points. The fact that it takes the government at least 2 years to gather data about learning is pretty ridiculous. I also love the fact that he brought up the standardized testing, and how flawed/incomplete that can be. Finding a way to measure the whole learner, instead of just the standardized test-taking learner is a very interesting concept. Focusing on the most important factor in student achievement, feedback, can be a great way to run a classroom and to actually see results in student learning and true development. With the increased use of technology in the classroom, it is actually becoming more and more possible to track the student’s learning. I think that this is a great idea and a terrific concept. Steve Schoettler gives the example of being able to recommend friends you may know on a social network. Using this technology and thought process and turning it toward education could be a great way to track student learning and provide consistent and helpful feedback.
With the amount of new technology that is available, there should be no reason why we can’t make learning and teaching more effective, efficient and easier to accomplish. It seems to take some educators to think outside the box a little bit, and embrace the new generation and all of the technology that is coming along with it, to truly create something that students will gain quite a benefit from.
evanmozzochi 
I too found the piece on Thin Clients to be informative. I especially liked how all you need to do is replace the one Thin Client if it goes down, and you don’t actually have to fix the entire system. This would make it much easier for an entire class to do work as a group because if one of the Thin Clients goes down you don’t have to worry about everyone else going down.
For me I found the Kinect video to be the most interesting. Especially with how Mr. Kissco mentioned using it in a math class, because that is the area that I am going in to. So, being able to implement something like this would be fun, and I agree that it would definitely put a spin on the traditional classroom because it can be used in a traditional classroom, but, it gets students up and interacting with the material rather than just using the material.