techno in education everybody dance

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

Web site is interesting. I have bolded the interesting bits of information.

Increased Motivation and Self Esteem
The most common--and in fact, nearly universal--teacher-reported effect on students was an increase in motivation. Teachers and students are sometimes surprised at the level of technology-based accomplishment displayed by students who have shown much less initiative or facility with more conventional academic tasks:
The kids that don't necessarily star can become the stars. [with technology]. My favorite is this boy . . . who had major problems at home. He figured out a way to make music by getting the computer to play certain letters by certain powers and it changed the musical tone of the note and he actually wrote a piece. He stayed in every recess. . . . When I asked him what he was working on, he wouldn't tell me. Then he asked if he could put his HyperCard stack on my computer because it was hooked up to speakers. I said "sure" and at recess. . . he put it on my computer and played his music and literally stopped the room. And for months he had kids begging him at recess, every recess, to teach them how to make music. And for that particular kid it was the world because he really was not successful academically and was having lots of problems. . . . This really changed him for that school year. -Elementary school teacher
Teachers talked about motivation from a number of different perspectives. Some mentioned motivation with respect to working in a specific subject area, for example, a greater willingness to write or to work on computational skills. Others spoke in terms of more general motivational effects--student satisfaction with the immediate feedback provided by the computer and the sense of accomplishment and power gained in working with technology:
Kids like the immediate results. It's not a result that you can get anywhere else except on the computer. . . . For them it really is a big deal. Much more so than I ever though it was going to be. --Elementary school teacher
Technology is the ultimate carrot for students. It's something they want to master. Learning to use it enhances their self-esteem and makes them excited about coming to school. --Fifth grade teacher
The computer has been an empowering tool to the students. They have a voice and it's not in any way secondary to anybody else's voice. It's an equal voice. So that's incredibly positive. Motivation to use technology is very high. --Elementary school teacher
In many of these classes, students choose to work on their technology-based projects during recess or lunch periods. Teachers also frequently cite technology's motivational advantages in providing a venue in which a wider range of students can excel. Compared to conventional classrooms with their stress on verbal knowledge and multiple-choice test performance, technology provides a very different set of challenges and different ways in which students can demonstrate what they understand (e.g., by programming a simulation to demonstrate a concept rather than trying to explain it verbally).
A related technology effect stressed by many teachers was enhancement of student self esteem. Both the increased competence they feel after mastering technology-based tasks and their awareness of the value placed upon technology within our culture, led to increases in students' (and often teachers') sense of self worth.
I see more confidence in the kids here. . . . I think it's not just computers, it's a multitude of things, but they can do things on the computers that most of their parents can't do and that's very empowering and exciting for them. It's "I can sit down and make this machine pretty much do what I want to," and there's something about that that gives them an extra little boost of, "Wow, I'm a pretty special person." --Elementary school teacher
Students clearly take pride in being able to use the same computer-based tools employed by professionals. As one teacher expressed it, "Students gain a sense of empowerment from learning to control the computer and to use it in ways they associate with the real world." Technology is valued within our culture. It is something that costs money and that bestows the power to add value. By giving students technology tools, we are implicitly giving weight to their school activities. Students are very sensitive to this message that they, and their work, are important.