What does teaching with technology mean?

When I think about teaching with technology...

-I think about ways to make learning interesting, exciting, and engaging.
Teaching has evolved so much recently that it is no longer simply the days of lecture and notes.  One of the things that most excites me about teaching with technology is all the possibilities and the ways that we can now teach and demonstrate things which would have been impossible years before.

-I worry about what happens when the technology fails to work when you need it to.
We have all probably been guilty of relying too much on technology on times.  The problem is that sometimes computers don't work, programs or online simulations fail, videos fail to play and so on.  It always fills me with panic and dread when the computer doesn't work or whatever you need and I only have a few minutes to solve the problem.  We can sometimes get so caught up in the technology that when it doesn't work we suddenly find ourselves improvising a lesson in front of our students.  Sometimes I wonder if the technology affects our creative thinking since we can just as easily get stuck with the idea that PowerPoints are the best way to present, etc

-I think about all the aspects of technology I know nothing about.
How can anyone keep up with the pace of technology?  It seems like every time I turn around there is some new technology I know nothing about.  Although I am sure I can pick it up quickly (at least quicker than my mom), I am still scared about all the stuff out there and whether I will ever be able to keep up with it all.


One of the things we've talked about is using technology to help bridge the gap with the younger generation of students we teach.  However, I wonder whether our students care about this as much as we do.  Should we try to use the latest and greatest technology or just stick with what most people do and are comfortable with?  If we are not too far behind current technology, does it matter to our students?  For example, I had a teacher use transparencies (with nothing but text on them) a few years ago and we were all aghast that those still existed.  If the teacher had just used PowerPoints, I doubt any of us would have cared, since that seems modern enough and we would not have expected the teacher to use any particularly advanced technology.