Well, I have finally have a minute, albeit a late one, to sit down and write about The Victorian Internet. Interestingly, I felt as if I were reading something I had already taught. I have long used the idea of relating inventions of the past and communication into my lessons. In fact, one of the assignments I give my students towards the end of the year is to come up with a flow chart showing how some inventions lead to others, the impact they had on society, etc.

I often use the Telegraph to lead to the telephone, the idea of a telephone in every house, which I could say leads to fax machines, or computers, the internet, the cell phone, and on and on and on. I'm sure you get the idea. I really enjoyed the book, and I can see that reading it opens up questions relating to the second principle:

• Good learning designs reflect thoughtful considerations of technology(ies) chosen and consider cognitive, social, and societal consequences (The Means Principle).

If one considers the progress of the telegraph, from opening windows to the use of electricity, wires, etc., one can see the development of an idea that follows a thoughtful, although not always successful, approach. The idea that one can just sit down and design a thoughtful and consequential Education design just like that is rather foolish. It comes in fits and starts, it works sometimes, it doesn't others, and is surely frustrating. However, it also has its rewards. 

I get frustrated when I don't see immediate results in whatever it is I do. I don't necessarily think linearly and that is a handicap here. There is a necessity to slow down, think things out, and while trial and error is a laudable approach, one has to understand the impact of what one does. That said, just because you think something through does not mean that it is a finished product or that the results you assume will come about. There are a lot of factors to consider here, and where one may be served, another may be ignored. Is that acceptable? I suppose so, but one has to look at the consequences on both society and the individual, in this case the class and the student I suppose, and work forward from there.