Bacci, Tina. “Invention and Drafting in the Digital Age: New Approaches to Thinking about Writing.” Clearing House 82.2 (2008), 75-81.

 

The author here is focused on how the writing process can be made a little more modern. Instead of just using technology to transfer paper and pencil drafts to the computer, she argues that commonly used applications like PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher can be integrated, along with internet use, to the writing process to offer new perspectives and approaches for the technological generations that are going through school these days.

 

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic. July/August 2008.

 

Carr focuses on how Internet search engines and the instant access of information, both things for which Google is the poster-child, have affected the way that society consumes knowledge in general as well as people’s attention spans. Though he admits that research on the scientific cognitive effects of such things may be years away, that he himself has trouble focuses and how many of his literary friends feel the same way. He goes on to discuss how this issue might become even more pronounced as the technology continues to improve and as people’s dependence on it becomes even greater.

 

Levin, Douglas and Sousan Arafeh. “The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet Savvy Students and their Schools.” <http://www.pewinternet.org>

 

This study is about the value of the Internet for students and the fact that schools are not fully taking advantage of the possibilities. It points out that there are many different education related uses for the internet, though I will obviously be focusing on writing for this. The authors feel that more is being asked of students at present than in the past, and the Internet helps them manage the workload. They suggest that problems occur for many reasons, including restricted Internet access at school, or a total lack of access altogether. Also, that teachers are hesitant to assign internet-based assignments because not everyone has it.

 

Presnsky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001).

 

 

Prensky starts off the bat with a really great quote in his first paragraph: “Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach.” He goes on, referring to students and (many) teachers as natives and immigrants, respectively, and how they speak different languages and it creates a deep level of misunderstanding. Presnky argues that many teachers are baffled by the fact that current students are so much different from their counterparts from recent history due to the influence of technology. He puts the impetus on the teachers to bridge this digital divide and figure out a way to connect with the new generation of students.