Teaching With Technology

I am definitely a novice with all the newer technology. I went to school during the paper and pencil era when the only technology we had were manual typewriters and the first hand held calculators. I am very excited to learn how all the new technology works because this is the world we live in. In order for me to better help my students learn all they are capable of I need to be able to relate to the technology they have available to them. However, students won't achieve higher level thinking skills and more indepth knowledge acquisition just because they use technology. The technology can be another tool that for investigating and communicating information that needs to be mastered in the learning process. I am not convinced that technology is more of a help than a hinderance (or distraction) in the learning process. Students often seem to be more distracted by all the things going on around them than they are focused on the content they are trying to master. Could this 'stimulation overload' be causing a decrease in learning success?