Ten years ago, a school lesson on drought in sub-Saharan Africa might have required students to read a textbook and, perhaps, to watch a film. Today, with the help of computers and the Internet, that lesson could be transformed from a one-way flow of information into an interactive process. Students could go on-line to search for the latest thinking on the causes of drought. They could use e-mail to interview African-studies specialists on the cultural impact of the problem. And they could apply digital geography and weather tools to simulate the effects of drought on local crops and the environment.

But to achieve this new dimension in learning—and, above all, to enhance the performance of students—schools must do more than just wire up classrooms. Although 95 percent of US public schools and 72 percent of classrooms have access to the Internet, and the student-to-computer ratio is currently approaching 10:1 (Exhibit 1), only 33 percent of primary- and secondary-school teachers say that they feel "very well prepared" or even "well prepared" to integrate high-quality digital content into their lessons (Exhibit 2).¹

To prepare students for the world of tomorrow, schools must therefore take the next step by helping teachers...