One thing that Alec talked about was the use of personal devices in classrooms; many devices are permitted but I think we need to expand this even further. I know for myself it was beneficial to be able to have a live screen in front of me while Alec was talking so that I was able to type out a question if I happened to have one. I think there are a lot of students that could benefit from this in classrooms as well- the ones that are perhaps too shy to have otherwise asked a question for themselves. I also found it interesting to be able to log into Twitter on my phone and follow Alec with the click of a button while he spoke to us. While he was introducing himself I was able to find out a little bit about him for myself just by looking at his Twitter account. I think it is a neat way to get more out of things such as presentations, and our students should be able to use these sources to compliment lessons given by us as well.
Understandably, with technology comes responsibility. As educators we need to be making sure that we are teaching our students the proper ways to utilize these resources as there are many ways that it can be misused. As Alec pointed out, however, technology is inevitably going to be a part of our classrooms, so we will need to take on these challenges. We need to teach our students how to connect, share and learn from each other with the technology that is available to us.
Ah there's the rub! "With technology come responsiblity". I appreciate that you say that we need not just use this technology in our classrooms, but also teach them appropriate usage! Well said and, I think, part of the hidden curriculum of the 21st century.
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