What is the role of technology in education?

To enhance learning.

Wow, that was easy. Seriously though. At some point in time chalk and chalkboards was a technology, and it was found that teachers could enhance learning by drawing pictures (gasp!) for their students so that they could all see. Now we have multimedia presentations, videos, and more at our fingertips that will hopefully allow us to engage students and prepare them for the world of technology that is out there. I think that technology should really only be used if it does in fact enhance learning. Showing a video just for the sake of showing a video is worthless, there should be something the students get from the video that would be difficult or impossible for the teacher to get across himself. This goes for any technology.
Another important feature of using technology is the fact that it allows for students to be challenged at whatever level they need to be challenged at. Individual learning styles and levels have been talked about for years, and now we are getting technology on computers that allows a personalized differentiation of instruction.

Sweet.

That doesn't really answer the question though, does it? I think that the overall, technology should be considered another tool that teachers and students can use to enhance learning. The only asterisk to this is that technology is becoming so prevalent in the world around us that it is something that sometimes needs to be taught in and of itself. In this case, however, it becomes a different beast that is no longer a tool for the teacher, but instead a subject matter such as Math or English, and for this we would have to have a curriculum discussion. Overall, I think that technology use should be appropriate. discrete, and it should have a lasting effect on how students learn.