It was not an isolated incident. As other professors he met described their plans to follow his example, he suspected their classes would also flop. "They would just be inspired to use blogs and Twitter and technology, but the No. 1 thing that was missing from it was a sense of purpose."
(emphasis mine)
You can't just bolt on techy techtech and be a good and innovative teacher (or student). There has to be a reason. A purpose. A genuine, authentic need to use a tool or technique. Otherwise it's just distracting busywork. Sometimes, no techytechtech is the best way to do something.
But Mr. Wesch has also found that a high-tech method like asking students to write blogs can actually reinforce what he sees as an "authoritarian" tendency of lectures.
One example he has seen: a professor whose first comment on a student's blog is, "Hey, great ideas here, but just so you know, there are a few typos there in your first line." To Mr. Wesch, that sends the message that the blog is just another spot watched by the grammar police, rather than a new arena to explore. "Students can all sniff out an inauthentic place of learning," the professor argues. "They think, If it's a game, fine, I'll play it for the grade, but I'm not going to learn anything."