While the move by the school board to allocate $50,000 of its budget towards technology is controversial, it is necessary if you think about it.

Thanks to MTV, MuchMusic, Jerry Bruckheimer movies, PS3 and Xbox, children have become accustomed to being bombarded with images at Pentium processor-like speed and as a result, some develop shorter attention spans.

Less attention can potentially lead to problems in the classroom when it comes to taking notes and digesting information — if the material is being presented too slowly and the student isn't focused, important concepts can be missed.

While a teacher presenting notes from a lesson plan through a computer desktop to a projector and onto a whiteboard isn't really comparable to Transformers 2 or the Halo video games, it is much less static than images on transparencies projected through an overhead.

Plus, when a teacher clicks to switch from one screen to another, there usually is movement on the screen as the next page of notes comes up, providing a slight form of visual stimulation.

Teachers can also highlight important points, bringing it to the attention of the class and lessening the chance that something will be missed.

YouTube clips and other video footage can also be utilized by teachers for use on a whiteboard, and that only aids in keeping the students engaged.

Why learn about 9/11 from a second-hand textbook account when you can watch the live footage from that very day?

In addition, the new technology will allow students to go online and download notes in case they miss something in class.

Some teaching positions will be lost for next school year thanks to budgetary constraints and you probably won't find many people who will take technology over teachers but there at least seems to be an ounce of method to the technological madness.