Thanks for getting the conversation started in this! Everytime I am given an example of how teachers are using digital media--it's usually a full-blown, large scale example, and by then, it's difficult to see how the seed was planted--how the kernels began.
One idea I am playing with right now is to redefine what we consider to be acceptable forms of genre when it comes to academic work. We STILL honor the essay over all other forms of communication, but as we see, a blog can be a better argument device. Between hyperlinks and commenting features, the writing a student produces could potentially develop into a study and a thought process much deeper than an isolated paragraphed text.
So maybe that's a place to start, with blogging. My current project is to develop these ideas and test them in a virtual world: preservice teachers will actually be presented with "virtual students" who will push these boundaries. They will need to conference and respond to texts incuding essays, blogs and even Glogsters. I am hoping to gain insight into how 20-somethings, our wanna-be teachers, think about and respond to these issues. Unfortunately, my hunch is that they will be as confounded as you and I and any other teacher has been: even though they may use mobile devices and digital media, when brought into what has been traditionally seen as a less-than-digital sphere, what will they do? How will the "genre" affect how they can react to and teach the students? Will they get sidetracked by the digital and find themselves confronting their own beliefs about what's an acceptable form of writing? I'm so excited by these questions--but then again, I'm an uber-geek.
Furthermore, what kinds of conversations can you have with a faculty? Let's put issues of access aside for now. Already I have seen some promising posts in this forum about teachers who live in remote areas but are doing more with digital media than people in highly connected environments. Not that access isn;t an issue, but I believe there are some powerful ways we can communicate and use digital media, even with limited access. My own daughter's Montessori classroom is a prime example of how a few iPads is transforming the curriculum of 30 kids...
Some resources for you... to get thinking, and perhaps, get started!
http://dmlcentral.net/ I follow this site more to be a part of the conversation rather than get idea, but if you keep digging, that stuff is here too!
http://www.macfound.org/programs/learning/ Again, another "thinking" site, but it's replete with movers and shakers in digital media & learning.
Both will give you access to real-time teachers doing real-time stuff. Of course, I think they would be much better in giving you advice on how to get started than me. But, I also have access to a fantastic new teacher who has seen, recognized and tinkered with the power of social and digital media in a lit classroom. I can put her in contact w/ you if you so wish :)
Finally, where do you teach? Are there universities nearby who are doing anything with education and technology? I know that where I am, there are scores of opportunities to get teachers connected with the things that are happening...they NEED classrooms and willing thinkers!!!