Ok, so Apple has just blown the lid off.  They have announced the new iPhone, which uses a touch screen rather than keys, allows you to skip through voice mails visually, includes internet and email, and has music, photos, and video like an iPod.   They are partnering with Google, Yahoo, and Cingular to bring all the features to fruition.  It’s like one “mega” company.

Besides the obvious leap in technology which will transform what our students can do, what struck me most was something Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt(This is a paraphrase from Engadget) said, becuase it made me think about schools and what we could do.

 “You can actually merge without merging. Each company should do the absolutely best thing they can do every time, and he’s shown it today.”

It made me think about that when we ask kids to collaborate on projects and think creatively, we are asking them to merge without merging.  And if each student does the best thing they can do every time, and makes their own individual contribution, what great products we end up with. 

And I’m wondering what other partnerships schools can explore that bring out the best in each partner?