Periodically I get asked if one day books will disappear, that everything will just be read online. I don't think it'll happen. I believe reading is not just a visual activity but also a tactile one. Still the question itself suggests how much has changed since my days as a middle schooler when teachers were still using carbon paper and there was big excitement when the TRS 80 computers were delivered. Despite the presence, I never got or sought much technical training. And so I've arrived in the 21st Century as a teacher having recognized the need to incorporate technology into the classroom but without the confidence or the aptitude to proceed in a consistent manner. I have tried things beyond word processing like Web Quest and Power Point Presentations with mixed success. It requires a new kind of teaching and a new kind of writing, and now that I have sought more training I do have more confidence and competence with technology.

My mother typed all of our papers on a blue typewriter that took up a place of honor, the floor of the living room behind the large plant. My brothers carried it out for her whenever one of us (and there were four) announced we had a paper due usually the night before. She'd type away until the morning. When we'd wake up, there'd be a flawless manuscript awaiting us, marred only by the heavy blotches of White-out next to a plate of pancakes or Cream of Wheat. By the time I entered college, my mother gave up her job of personal secretary. My parents purchased a computer outfitted with a word processing program and a printer.

There's never enough technology support in public schools and learning to use technology effectively is time-consuming. That said, if we think about schools as places for kids, we really need to provide them with opportunities to use technology that they're comfortable with and to learn with them about up-and-coming technology.

With a certain audience, those born in the '60s or earlier, the loose-leaf paper and manual typewriter, electric typewriter, word processor progression elicit smiles of recognition. Revision became easier and more inviting. I loved making the move between paper and pen and computer. However, I worry some whether they're…those born in the '90s feel the same opportunity for…with revision. Isn't it ironic that the technology that makes revision more manageable also make it appear less necessary? Writing may look finished but is it really more polished and thoughtful?

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