I believe that teachers should do a good deal of using technology that students use outside of school inside there own classroom. For the reason of keeping interest of the students. If they are doing something they enjoy doing they will be more interested in wanting to do it.
I think that maybe a live chat between a group could be beneficial? It could serve as a study group or something like that. But I think that for the most part it is better to do that in person, but if that is not possible then chat would work.
As for the pod casts, i think that if it is used correctly it is beneficial to the students. they can hear the information and be able to replay it over again if they dont understand something. But it cant be used in place of studying. By that I mean you cant just listen to it and expect to do good.
I dont believe videogames inhances your studying. I used to play videogames quite a bit and it drastically cut into my studying time. It seems like the game gets prioritized over the studying. If you get a game where you have to think, then it could work your brain a little bit. I wouldnt mind my kids playing games everyday, but there would be a restriction or time limit.