Prensky's article, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants," discusses the differences between the ways that Digital Natives, students who grew up with some form of our current technology, differ from Digital Immigrants, people who did not grow up with modern technology. He asserts that Digital Natives cannot effectively teach Digital Immigrants without altering the "legacy" content which they are comfortable with teaching to include include some form of "future" content.
To answer the questions for the blog, I do believe that I have a responsibility to use computing technology. I belong to the "Digital Natives" era, albeit the very early stages of it, and I cannot imagine not using some form of recent technology, whether it be showing a YouTube video to aid a lesson or having my students contribute to a class blog or wiki. As the article pointed out, students today are bored with the traditional ways of teaching; the need new stimuli to keep them engaged. I've see this in my CT's classroom, which has nothing more high-tech than an overhead projector. The students are often distracted by things, which would most likely be less of an issue if they were more engaged in their education.
Obviously, this makes me unlike Jim. I am not hesitant or resistant to using technology or computers in my classroom, but I am also not so naive that I think that technology can teach students anything and everything. I suppose in that way that I am a little like Jim; I am skeptical that students could learn something as effectively from a web resource as they could from a live human being. I believe that computers need to be integrated into a classroom, but not that they need to take over.
For the most part, I agree with Prensky's argument, and I actually noticed something in it that proved it to an even further extent. Prensky mentioned that students today have been shaped by "the 'twitch speed' of video games and MTV." Prensky shows his "accent" in this statement because as a member of the "Digital Natives," I had very little contact with MTV, which was considered the most innovative thing to come out of the 80s. Admittedly, it is more relevant now with shows like "16 and Pregnant," but to be honest, even that is going out of style.
Coming from a much different experience than you in regards to technology in the classroom (each of my students has their own laptop for every class), I can say that I agree with exactly what you are saying regarding technology integration but on the exact opposite side. Just like a textbook can be dull if repeated on a daily basis, using computers too frequently can have the exact same effect on students. I have witnessed in the first two weeks the importance of the mantra of moderation. Regardless of the style or technology implemented moderation is the key to allow students of all different likes, interests, learning levels etc., to grow during the school year.
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