Is it foreign language?

In the Educause reading there was one thing that was clear to me. No matter how different the "language" the students these days use, the education is still most important. It really was not the technology. As a matter of fact I was shocked with all of the statistics that showed students really do not want 100% technology in the classroom. Students now still cherish the one-on-one involvement with staff and one another, actually enjoying group activities more now than when I was a student. So what does this mean to me? It comforts me that even though we are being shoved onto the information highway, the things that are most important (human interaction) are not being lost. I agree with needing the physical interaction as much as the technological. Technology should be a tool a teacher uses and not the only thing the student knows. So, after my emotions ran high on last weeks readings, I was more settled this week. It seems that a students perspective is pretty close to mine.
The classroom I work in is a great example. We received 'smart boards' this year and a lot of teachers felt as though their jobs would get easier. As a classroom specialist I get to observe 5 different teachers in the classroom. When the students arrived in the room and saw the smart board they were thrilled. They had clearly used this before and began to teach the staff what to do. As I watched the different teachers and their use of the board I began to note these kids were getting bored quicker that they ever had if the board was not used properly. If a video was just put on the board and the teacher sat down, the kids lost it. If the board is not touched at all the kids get mad. Few and far between are the teachers who can find that balance. The reading backed all of this up.
As of right now we are not completely on separate books from the students now. We might be on different pages or even a couple of chapters behind but not completely different books. This really makes the task of teaching the students not seem impossible. Difficult but not impossible.