Technology in the Elementary Classroom

After pondering over my extremely interesting, everyday activities I realized that there are three writing spaces I use almost on a daily basis. The first is texting on my cell phone. The second is writing with regular pen and paper. Lastly, I use my computer for carrying out various tasks and composing various papers.

I send and receive roughly 75 text messages on my cell phone daily. I text while I walk, while I eat, while I am in certain lectures (just trying to be honest!), and undoubtedly I must text in my sleep due the shear volume. Almost everyone does some texting throughout the day. Even my mother does! Granted she calls a Blackberry a Blueberry and she is a little slow with answering texts, but she does her best. I am very proud. My dad is coming along-slow and steady wins the race! If he read his Blackberry manual, he would be much further along, but there seems to be something about directions that scare men away.

Next, pen and paper get put to good use, especially during school time. I take notes until my hands hurt. By writing facts down, I can recall the information more readily later. Some students use their laptops to take notes in class, but I do not. I know the internet, games, and other such things would distract me during class time. Therefore, I am old school when it comes to note taking.

At home my notes become invaluable as I work on my computer composing papers to turn into my professors. I have a PC and use Microsoft Word for everything. Word is easy for me to navigate and I find it to be a very reliable program. Rarely, I write a rough draft with regular pen and paper. It is more efficient to gather information and start writing on Word. It corrects mistakes as I go along, and since my handwriting is awful, the strain to read is much, much less. I also write emails on my computer, and I update my Myspace regularly with my performance dates and other information. I have yet to join the Facebook fiasco, but I have a feeling I will be very, very shortly.

Most obviously, remediation has occurred with the computer replacing the conventional pen and paper. Of course conventional pen and paper will never completely disappear because of its convenience, but the computer is definitely “borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing” with pen and paper (Bolter, 25). Now instead of handwriting a letter and sending it through the mail, people can simply shoot emails to each other instantly over the computer. When composing papers, students no longer need to handwrite them-not even the rough drafts. Typing papers on processors is a much more efficient and appealing option. Even now instead of handwriting notes, some professors allow students to take notes on their laptops. By taking notes on laptops, it is easier for some students to utilize their notes for later assignments. On the computer, the thought process for writing still occurs, but the process no longer has to take place on pen and paper first.