i think matching the technology used in education with the technology used by students needs to be as close as possible. If the technology used in education works the same as the technology used by the students, they will be more comfortable with it and will not have to spend much time learning how to use the technology which gives them more time to learn the course material.The online chats and instant messaging can be a valuable tool in the classroom if guidelines are in place and if a program like epals is used.I think if they are monitored then they can add to student learning.The advantage to asynchronous text-based communication over synchronous communication is that it gives people time to think about the subject of the material and what they want to say about it.Podcast can help students when they go to create a podcast because they are going to have to know the material that they are going to cover in their podcast. Podcast also allow the students the chance to listen to material more than once if they need too.Videogame can help develop your studying if the games are educational or if you or designing a game. If the students are designing a game then they are learning the material they are using for the game plus they are learning from their peers that are helping in designing the game. The students also learn math skill from developing a video game. For the most part I agree with the article I would let my child videogame, but would limited the amount of time that they could.