The article seemed really far-fetched to me; I cannot imagine a school that uses technology so much. Teachers reading each other's blog posts in order to collaborate? A principal reading every teacher's blog update? Every teacher having equipment to record and post podcasts of lectures? I just can't see that happening any time soon. Several of my students do not have home computers. And only 1/5 of my parents are linked to Edline. If we were to move toward technologically savvy instruction, we would need to give students the equipment to keep up with us.
I've thought about classroom podcasts several times. I subscribe to several podcasts and love the ease of accessing information. And it would be great for students who miss a class. I have never had a problem being observed. Student teachers, principals, superintendents, former students, college professors - some days I feel that I have more visitors than students. Yet, the idea of everyone being able to "see" into my classroom is still kinda weird. So I am undecided as to whether I want to try this out. Is anyone already doing podcasts? If so, how do you feel about having everything you say put out there for the world to critique?
Moving on to students using technology, well that's a big ol' double-edged sword. There are just as many benefits as there are downfalls. I know many of us want the district to eliminate the "no cell phone/no mp3 player" rule. But if they do, teachers will need to monitor their classrooms much more closely. Do we want kids texting each other for answers on a quiz or test? Or "sexting" during class? Students need some education about the appropriate time and place for using technology before it is unleashed in schools. Real thought needs to be put into school policies and procedures.
The difficult thing about technology is the pace at which it changes as new applications are developed. You learn one thing and before you get totally comfortable, here comes something else. So we take what makes sense to us and what we think will be of value to our ourselves and/or our students and make use of it. At least the skills that we acquire along the way are transferrable, although it may not always be obvious.
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