Chromebooks Meet the The 4 C's

When tech meets the 4 C's the results are mixed; in educational lingo the 4 C's are Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity. I think that the use of technology forces some critical thinking and problem solving, just by its very nature - how do I open this type of document? How do I submit this? Where can I find that? And is there another way that I can complete the same assignment using a different platform? Before even getting to any particular assignment, skills are required when using technology in the classroom - are those skills critical thinking skills? Depending on the technology being utilized, they could be - and at the very least, they are problem-solving skills.
Collaboration really thrives with the Chromebooks. In my Introductory Spanish classes, students have always written a script and performed it in front of class. Often it has been one student who writes the script while his or her groupmates suggest edits - or worse yet, drift off. When the students write the script on a shared Google Doc, I see more engagement, and, along with that engagement I see students working together, collaborating.
The Communication element is obviously present with shared Google Docs, but in the foreign language classroom I do believe that the Chromebooks or any technology can only take a student so far. While the tech may expose the student to more of the language (with apps like Duolingo), when we have the Chromebooks in the room, there is inevitably less speaking, and I strive to find a balance between the use of technology and the need for person-to-person communication in the language. We can use tech to access the real world, but within the classroom, we need to practice some of those real world interactions with one another.
Finally, if handled well, technology can foster Creativity, too. Without guidance, tech can limit creativity (students are asked to illustrate a sentence using the word pencil - in the 'old days' I would see 30 different versions of the pencil, from a magazine or better yet, hand-drawn. Today, I see the same pencil clipart over and over again). The time and the energy to push students beyond the first Google Search, and to locate the right tools for the students will ensure that Creativity is part of the student technology experience.