From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology

In my early writing days, pencils, pens, crayons, markers, chalk, and colored pencils were my best friends. They were there for me when I had nothing to do. Even if what I made out of them were just scribbles and abstract art, they were easier to use when I started school and created actual writing. As I aged, I gave more attention to pens and pencils as my writing tools. But when I discovered the mechanical pencil in middle school, that’s what I have used since then because of its thin graphite, which made writing much easier and my penmanship look cleaner.

Even though nowadays computers and laptops are much more relevant for my writing activities, I can never reject the pen or pencil for my use. In high school, all my essays would have to go through turnitin.com, which is a plagiarism check for all written work turned in. I would get scared to use this because I thought I would get in trouble for the smallest similarity in the internet. But I learned to keep up with it throughout high school.

But now that college is here, my laptop has become useful and faster for notes, homework, classwork, and sooner or later- essays. Not only has it been useful for school, but I am able to communicate with my relatives across the globe faster than through letters and postcards. And I’m sure everyone appreciates this function of the computer. As helpful and relevant computers can be, I will never take advantage of it and let go of writing with the pen and pencil.