Reaching students online

As an online art histoy instrutor I have to say that I love technology. I've been using the standard online website set up for my classes and linking students with web resources to drive discussions that are posted on the discussion board. It works. But is it the best way to reach students? The idea of blogging seems more appealing... and dovetailing that with podcasts and utube... Is it all about following the latest trend? Do we capture them with glitz at the expense of content or is it necessary to get their attention with the newest technology because they will be bored with the old traditional way?