I am a special education teacher in a middle school in upstate New York. I am currently taking a technology course at our local university. Part of our syllabus is to join an online community of our interest. I am interested in learning of any positive experiences that your students or children have had regarding technology use in their classrooms. I know that my studetns are extrememly motivated by using technology, and they even show me how to do things sometimes. I also have a Smart Board in my classroom that the students love to use daily.
My daughter is very motivated by the use of technology in the classroom. She uses a laptop with Kurzweil 3000 on it for reading and writing. This has helped her gain a lot of confidence over the last 2 years. She also enjoys the Read180 program being offered at her high school. This integrates books, small group work and computer time. She especially enjoys the computer time which helps her work on reading comprehension, spelling and vocabulary.
Good luck with your students. :)