Teaching Tech to Kids?

I think it is time to really stir the pot! The reason I am doing this whole blog thing is because of a really interesting, and I would even say controversial, technology seminar. The seminar was given by Will Richardson. He is a presenter, speaker, teacher, writer, and fellow blogger (although I would say my blogs should not be compared to his). What an interesting seminar it was! I do wish we could have explored his ideas and teachings another day. During the seminar he talked about RSS, blogging, and podcasts. He didn't have time to get to Wikis, which I am still in the dark about. He had some very interesting points about education. His one example that stands out in my mind was about memorization. He said, "Why would a teacher have students memorize the capitol's of the states in this day and age? Wouldn't it be much better to teach them how to find the information quickly and easily using technology that they already use?" This really hit home since I have had this feeling for quite awhile. I am not saying that technology can solve all problems and that some worksheets and memorization are not needed, but I think as educators in this day and age we need to seriously rethink how we are teaching. Since almost anything can be found on the web fairly quickly, shouldn't it be taught in schools? I don't mean "Look this up on the web." I mean, "Let's learn how to do research on the web. Let's also learn what are valid information sources on the web." Do I mean just students when I make these statements? Certainly not! I would venture to say that most students could actually teach most teachers a thing or two concerning the web, including searches. The one thing that was discussed in the seminar that worried many of the educators were standardized tests (ISAT, ITBS). Obviously these are not set up for technology savvy students. Something will have to change in the state of Illinois, and nationally, for this type of technology driven curriculum to take hold. Another obvious negative is the price tag. Most schools (especially my school's size - under 300 students 7-12) don't have the monies available to implement this type of technology driven curriculum. Will Richardson has written a book that I have to get my hands on. The name of it is Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. What is your opinion on where technology is going in the classroom?