Should schools allow teachers to use outside technology tools?

I am actually copying this question from a guest blogger at Techlearning. Visit his blog to get the complete article.

So, in this world of shrinking budgets, should we allow teachers to bring in their own technology tools? I really see both sides of this issue; having been one of the support personnel to fix the problems personal equipment can cause, and being an educator who wants to provide education...with whatever tools work best.

Here is what I think - what we do is teach kids. We prepare them to be productive citizens in an ever changing world. How we do that is up to us but I think we are doing a disservice to them if we are not modeling the real world.

So...if podcasts, blogs and online forums are what is "real world"...if cell phones, mp3 players and digital cameras are "real world"...shouldn't we be allowed to use these tools in our classroom? And...if the school district can't afford to provide these tools, then we should be allowed to bring in our own.

Yes, this causes more work for support personnel but in the long run, I think the benefits outweigh the hassels.

What say you?