Comments on connecting to the 21st-century student

I read the article titled "Connecting to the 21st-Century Student" and thourghly enjoyed it.

I can personally relate to this article because I always take my laptop with me to any class, workshop, conference, and meeting because I never know when I'll need to take note (why get a hand cramp and then loose the piece of paper you took notes on), send an email message regarding meeting contents (why have a to-do list to do later?), or find an answer to a question during the meeting (instant answers are just waiting to be found on the World Wide Web). Typing allows me to write almost anything as fast as my thoughts come to me or about as fast as someone talks. A pen tends to cramp my hand, produce misspellings, and is so sloppy that no one could read it later anyway.

Recently, I was searching for games I could play in the classroom to reinforce what we are learning. This teacher pulled together four cell phones in the class room that had the same carrier (so they could text for free), divided the class into three groups, and proceeded to ask review questions for the test. Each group had to collaborate, come up with the correct answer and text it to the teacher. The first text to come through got the point. The best part is that the teacher doesn't have to make the judgement about who answered first.

This article spurred me to wondering how other items of technology could be used to help my students do even better. I am an English as a Second Language teacher; repetition and exposure to English are paramount in learning and remembering and thus being able to speak. Could Ipods or MP3 players have vocab put on and thus they review using these tech tools?