Technology and Writing

Moran's overview of the impact the computer and technology had on writing in "Technology and the Teaching of Writing" was pretty fair in showing the negatives and positives of the relationship between technology and writing.

For one, the whole aspect of the application of word processing to writing provided further insight to the endless debate of the difference between writing on the computer and writing on paper first. Does writing in say, Microsoft word, hinder writing? Moran tried to find a suitable summary for this issue and came up with:

We found that students might or might not be revising more online than they had on paper; that writers might be having difficulty seeing their text whole, might be spending less time planning before they wrote, and might be helped or hindered by spell checkers and grammar checkers (Moran 207)

As Moran continues on, he notes that because essentially, writers WRITE differently. There are so many different things that goes into everyone's writing process, that it seems impossible to come up with definitive proof on either side.
I also liked his idea that all writers can, to a degree, control their writing environment by manipulating the program they are working with (208). By say, turning off auto correct functions that would other wise drive us crazy, we are creating an environment where words can flow freely unto the page. And for someone like me, who is distracted easily by the terrible inconsistency of my handwriting, writing in a word program is a welcomed change, because it is one less thing I have to worry about as I write.


As several authors noted, we are living in a technological-multimedia driven world, and there is a "growing percentage of students who believe their ability to communicate using new media will be critical to their futures" (Faigley, 179). I can really see this happening, especially as I once considered myself "technology savvy" (well at least compared to my family) and even now I cant keep up with whats going on, what with blogging and myspace and facebook. Of course, many of you have seen this already with my futile attempts at linking websites and you tube videos!) Therefore, I appreciate Faigley's concern about writing teachers simply not knowing enough about web writing, and it being a sometimes overwhelming force to consider putting into their curriculum when it (the curriculum) is demanding enough already.

Even with this negative notion, there is "pedagogical reasons for considering web publishing as an option for students. The ability to compose multimedia documents gives students an awareness of text over other media. Many ideas cannot be translated well into other media..."

I can certainly agree with this idea. I think that the visual literacy movement that is happening is a worthwhile cause to get invested in. Multimedia essays and documents are an encouraging way for students to express themselves in ways they couldn't on a plain text Microsoft word document, or even using a plain pen and paper. This (visual literacy) plays part into empowering them and by giving them a sense of empowerment, we are also encouraging them to use this to continue to express themselves through their writing and their "space" on the internet.