In regards to word processors...
No offense, but I can't quite wrap my brain around this even being an issue. I'm open to hearing how evil word processors are but doubtful it can be well argued their value in education.
Word processors have made creative creation a much easy task. I remember it being A Big Deal to have to do revisions when I was in grade school. And why? It meant laboriously handwriting the whole thing all over. Talk about a barrier where only the most enthusiastic writers would embrace the process of making their paper their best it could be. I am of the transition generation between paper and pencil to keyboard and screen. There was that lovely pit stop involving a type writer. I thought it fantastic to not worry about penmanship. Plus there was something oddly soothing about the rhythmic sound. But alas with no edit function, whole papers still had to be rewritten. So score one for ease of editing in word processors.
Another improvement is being able to emphasize art in the whole language arts content area. Word processors allow for all sorts of personal freedom in terms of font, size, format, color and on and on. To hit upon those aspects, one use to have to be an artist! Now it’s a matter of dreaming and visualizing then matching that to tools found in most word processors. It adds depth that can not easily be attained by handwriting. So score two for unlocking self-expression in word processors.
Finally, there are all the added benefits to having work done in a word processor. You better believe I am typing this in Word and letting it catch all my embaressing embarressing embarrassing spelling errors. Word documents can be saved and shared with simplicity. I have fallen in love with Google Docs for how collaborative a process group projects can be without having to physically be in the same location. This is also the way of the workplace for all the previously mentioned reasons. Score three for word processors naturally scaffolding skills needed in life and the workforce.
Students should leave school with the skills needed to put together snazzy and impressive documents of various purposes. I love all the content areas- math, science, social studies... but students need strong skills in language arts to fully unlock the power of the other content areas. Using word processors encourages growth in reading and writing skills by making it easier to make those skills part of daily practice.
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