Do we need using computer to teach language?

I read Kelvin's Blog yesterday, and some points in his journal really inspired me to think deeply...

Some questions come across my mind.

"Do we need to use technology to teach language?"

"What kind of role the technology will play in teaching language?"

The world is changing, students change over years. This generation of youth is different from before. They are computer-savvy generation. Despite all of these, in terms of teaching, some teachers still prefer "Chalk and Talk" method, and they are more comfortable with "the Teacher-Centered" traditional teaching style...

Especially for language teachers, they argue:
The science teacher will benefit more from the technology. Technology can help them to interpret the phenomenon more directly and clearly, and can help them to simplify the theory...
But for language teaching, we teach students how to appreciate the words, they need to be creative, they need use their own imagination to feel, to image... the technology will limit their imagination. This is something like "Watching TV", you get pleasure and stimulus from watching TV, but it is a passive way to learn and to get information. Watching too much TV, you will become dumb... But reading books is an active way to learn and get information, it makes you think, reading makes you wiser...

So do we need to create a "computer-supported classroom learning environment" to teach language?
Some teachers also point out the outcome of using computer to teach language is not better than the traditional way of teaching language. Some times if the teacher is not very familiar with the technology, it will waste time to settle things down, and the technology will distract the students' attention...

I understand the concern which language teachers point out. And I also agree that maybe the traditional way of teaching language can get better results in some cases.

So which one is better, "using computer" or not?

I think this is all about the mindset; we can not use technology for the sake of using technology.
How we use the technology to teach language is very important!

If we only let students learn from the technology, we only use technology as a new tool to teach language, the mindset is still the old mindset, the way how we teach is still the same, the way how we think is still the same, then I do not expect we can get much different outcome compared to the traditional way of teaching, even worse.

But if we can let students learn with the technology, with so many Learning Platforms in the world now, “ Wikis”, “Blogs”, “Forums”, “Games”, “Ipods”, “Podcasts”... the technology can prompt the students to do independent learning, prepare them for the lifelong learning. Technology can create a conducive learning environment for our students. In this learning environment, the students can acquire the skills of collaboration, communication, and independent learning. From this point of view, the way of using technology to teach will be more meaningful than the traditional way of teaching.

Do you agree with me?