Exciting! There are so many ways to use technology to improve the classroom for teachers, students and parents. Giving students the opportunity to show off their knowledge, to let them be the "expert," fosters self-esteem, motivation, confidence. A teacher asking for help and deferring to his or her students' expertise models humility, and establishes the classroom as a safe place to say, "I need help. I don't understand."
The thought of being able to integrate cell phones into the classroom (as part of learning) would be so relieving. To not have to compete with a cell phone, text messaging, surfing the web, taking pictures, etc. would make the whole room more comfortable. In a situation where there is limited technology in the school, yet almost every student has a cell phone, it would require little financial support from the district and meet our students' needs for technologically relevant instruction.
One concern I have is that communication will suffer. Students will not learn how to write or spell correctly because they are using short cuts and abbreviations. I personally pay attention to the quality of people's speech and writing (perhaps this has something to do with being an English teacher). I believe this continues to be important whether you are writing an email or a cover letter. An emphasis still should be placed on writing and speaking correctly no matter what medium is being used.
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