Do we have a link?

You mentioned something here that make a lot of sense and that is 'attention'. Listening with attention and gaining direct understanding is the quickest and most effective way to learn something. Young children don't usually have the same attention span as adults (or as adults should have) so learning by writing over and over makes sense but after a certain stage it should be that students are able to direct their attention on what someone is describing and be able to follow that. That is the most economical and wise use of a techers time in the classroom setting and one I'd longed for throughout my student years but never had. Well done, your students will love you for it.

Yes Insteon is excellent, it basically covers everything the questioner wants and if combined with Universal Devices ISY 99i Pro you don't even need a computer to run it, you do however need browser access to the ISY device to program it which is the fun part. I'm a DIYer and have installed about 30 light switches, 2 of which are three-way, a bunch of power recepticles and movement sensors for some of the lights. It works both wirelessly and over the powerlines of the house which makes it really easy to install (no cables). The wireless frequency is different to the standard house devices so you wont get interference. This is a significnat level above the x10 stuff and works consistently as advertised.

it seems like we might have a competition going on.