Technology in the classroom Part 6

Back after a hiatus. I had to turn in four chapters of my thesis at the end of December, and defend them last Friday, so the blog was definitely on a back burner. Besides, I'm working on an interesting translation that I'll tell you about later, but anyway...

So, if people learn in interaction, but today's kids are learning with technology, how do we combine both elements to take advantage of the potential they both have to offer? The main focus of my research is learning communities interacting with technology. However, these are face to face communities and not virtual communities, which are becoming ever more popular.
What I'm trying to do is have students work together in small teams on a project that involves creating their own learning materials and uses some kind of technology.
At the beginning, the project was kind of "fuzzy". I read that the more undefined these kinds of projects are, the more students will find them motivating. I must've read wrong, though, or else that rule doesn't apply to the students I was working with. I was working with students who are taking a preparation course for the TOEIC exam. I asked them to:
a) form teams of 4 to 6 students
b) decide what they wanted to work on (e.g., reading, listening, grammar)
c) decide what kind of technology they would work with (wikis, blogs, cell phones, podcasts, pdas, etc.)
d) create learning materials that used the chosen technology to deliver the area they wanted to focus on.

It was ambitious, I know. Next time, I'll tell you what happened...