While reading, I primarily focused in the first few pages about word processing and pencil and paper writing are interchangeable. I agree with many of the arguments that Hamilton makes, however I feel that there is an importance in pencil and paper writing as well.
"Keyboarding give instant feedback to students about spelling errors and provides options for corrections." (Hamilton, 89)
I completely agree with this. I think that word processing is a great resource to aid students
who have a hard time spelling and whose spelling errors distract from the goal of their
"Word processing eases the editing process as well." (Hamilton, 89)
Features like the thesaurus help add interest and flow to many students' writing. Along with
this students also find it easier to move sentences, paragraphs, and re-organize their work
"When every piece of writing has the same legibility, a teacher, parent, or student can focus on the worlds and ideas without the bias that handwriting, particularly poor handwriting, introduces." (Hamilton, 90)
I do not completely agree with this statement. I agree that it is a hard task to grade a paper
that is not legible and hard to read, but where will a student get the practice to improve their
manuscript if it is never relied on. Word processing cannot be the end all, be all. Pencil and
paper communication, I think, will always be the first, and foremost important mode of
During the first week of class, I did not intend on experiencing so many things. Already, I have learned about features in Microsoft Word that I didn't know existed. I would have never known that one could make corrections and add comments directly to a Word document. I can see this definitely helped me in the future; the ability to track my changes on the computer will be very convenient. Furthermore, I am excited to learn many new things about Word and other processors. With this class, along with the short readings we have completed already, I can see myself becoming more experienced and capable of bringing a new perspective towards technology to my classroom in the future.