Technological future

As I reflect on just how much technology has changed even from when I was a child, it makes me wonder how it will effect my classroom. Even as of now I do not have a "hard copy" of a grade book. Everything that I do as far as grading is on a computer. I do not have to calculate grades or go through many papers trying to find grades its all right there on the computer. Today I can see technology changing how some teachers "prepare" for class. In a lot of schools the faculty teaches to pass tests. The subjects that matter most for the schools "AYP" or adequate yearly progress, which is essentially the schools report card, are Math and Language Arts. There are tests on other subjects, but they do not count against the school. Since schools understand this, they focus their instruction in these two subjects, the other subjects are put off to the side. Teachers who "teach" the classes that do not effect AYP don't really teach but facilitate the class. They use drill-and-practice-software to work on these subjects. What this software does is question learners on key content points by responding to specific questions. This software also provides instant feedback to how the students do with the content questions, then the program makes the adjustments to the level that the particular student is doing. All the teacher has to do is make sure the software is working properly and that the students are staying on task.
This type of technology I believe can be great but at this point it is making a teacher's job obsolete. I would be bored out of my mind if I had to facilitate a class like that, and if I were a student I would hate to learn in that way all of the time. If I had to learn, say science, in a drill-and-practice type of class I would not really learn or like science.
I think that there is a posative in with technology. Teachers can stay in contact with parents and students. If a student is sick, he/she could still stay on track academically if the teacher could keep in contact with that student. A teacher can stay in touch with parents and let them know how their children are doing in class.
The future of teaching will be very closely intertwined with technology. I believe that everything will be done electronically. Teachers will no longer have to write out lesson plans, write out grades or send out handwritten notes home. This past year I communicated with a parent on a daily basis using text-messaging so that she was up to date with her son. I can see a problem with a big reliance on technology however. I believe that a lot of teachers will lose their jobs. School districts will find a way to say money by eliminating teachers and paying monitors less money to watch students working on computers to "learn." I think that with video-conferencing technology students can watch a screen and learn from a teacher who isn't in the same room as them (but this is a problem that the Union's will have to figure out...). I do believe that technology in the future will be essential and a positive tool in education.