This slide was posted by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach on the excellent blog, Dangerously Irrelevant. The two statements in the slide ought to be obvious; and it ought to be obvious that they have been forever true. This is because technology is always new, which is the same thing as saying it's nothing new. James Pillans' blackboard and chalk were cutting edge educational tech when he introduced those in the classroom in the early 19th century. "The inventor of [this] system," one Josiah Bumstead said, "deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning and science, if not the greatest benefactors of mankind." The more interesting thing raised here is that no one has said enough yet about what "effective" means, (or about why we would want students to connect and collaborate online). My hunch is that it doesn't mean anything different than it did in Pillans' day. You may have seen this video, but the last 30 or 40 seconds makes a point relevant here and is worth another look if you have: