I charted my use of technology for two weeks and I have come to the conclusion that I use them far too often. I had technology with me almost 24/7! I had my phone with me throughout the day and next to me at night. There was one day while I was in Dallas that my phone went dead around 10:30 in the morning and I was cut off from my group for the rest of the day. I used my phone as a way to fill in boring bits of the day, connect me to others (near or far), to do quick research, log onto email, use as digital boarding passes and concert tickets, etc. I had my ipod as well. I had that playing during most spaces of free time. I don't usually use it as much, but I used it as a tool to help me memorize my recital pieces. I also used it with my mikey attachment to record lectures and accompaniments. As for my laptop, I use it almost constantly. As background music, to watch T.V. or movies, to use social networks, to do research, to write papers, to write blogs about my technology use ;)
Pretty much, technology is integrated into our lives (at least mine) and is continuing to become more so. I'm almost always online in some way or another. My reprieves from screens include practicing (and even then I often use a computer or my phone as a metronome or accompaniment) and sleep. I know that I use technology a bit more than others, but I use it productively most of the time.
Online texts I have read include a few tweets, facebook statuses, journal articles, blogs, classic novels, etc. I exchange emails, tweets, and statuses with friends, colleagues, future employers, experts in my field, and others.
I would love to use technology in my class. One way that I've really liked while attending conventions, is this software called Smartmusic. It helps me fill a lot of the standards I need to encompass while still getting in rehearsal time. I can have kids go into a room and record themselves singing and the computer program will grade them on note accuracy and rhythm. I can use it for sight singing or testing on pieces we will be performing. The students can also use it for practice. It seems like a great technology that would make things much easier as an educator to fill all those standards. It also shows each student's progress and shows them what they missed and how I as a grader wasn't being subjective (which happens in music).
In a history or appreciation class, I could find countless online articles for them to read about composers and the like. In my choir class, I could help them develop videos for an Eric Whitacre virtual choir. It's a simple process and I could set up a practice room to streamline it. I would love to use edmodo or something similar to keep them updated with announcements and such, but I'm not sure that they would log in every day to see it.
The biggest technologies I see changing how I do things are Smartmusic, or Gradecam, or those test writing/grading websites. Most technologies I'd like to use are used here at the school and not at their home. They could easily ask me questions, but as I demoed some of this tech, it was very simple and basic. It was set up to be hard to not be able to do right.
I'm excited to get out there and teach and when I look at the technology developing for my field, I just get more and more excited!
