Reflections on "Student as Contributor" article

I read Alan November's article, "Student as Contributor: The Digital Learning Farm" and have compiled a list of insights and questions in regards to the material and ideas presented:

1) The value of hard work and teamwork is lost in many of today's youth, and it is the job of teachers to enstil responsibility and accountability in our students.

2) Whenever I assign group work, I give each student a "role" or "job" to fulfill. November suggests assigning roles and jobs should not only occur in small groups, but also during daily, whole class instruction.

3) Giving students roles encourages responsibility, accountability, and teamwork.

4) Authenticity in instruction, though assigned roles and use of technology, increases engagement, interest, and motivation.

5) The role I particulary enjoyed reading about and would like to administer in my classroom:

"Scribe of the Day"- as a self-proclaimed exemplarary notetaker, I have learned that not ALL students have the same note-taking passion as I had in Middle School. Therefore, I believe it is wise that a different student take notes each day and post to the class WIKI. On the class WIKI, students can read the set of classroom notes when preparing for a test/project/assignment, add notes, or discuss important topics/themes with other classmates in a blog format. Also, using one student as designated notetaker during instruction increases participation amongst students as they will be less worried about putting thoughts and ideas on paper and more willing to engage in discussion.

6) While I look forward to using a variety of technologies in my classroom, some ideas in this article seemed unlikely to administer based on monetary funds. For example, would my school be willing to buy me a set of classroom MP3 players for my 5th and 6th grade Language Arts class?