Writing for Myself: Writing to Teach

Writing for Myself: Writing to Teach


Technology autobiography

I'm embarrassed to tell this story. My brother said that my parents should buy me a computer, and a lot of times he is full of hot air and I blew him off and got a word processor instead. Can you believe it? I used a word processor to write my big composition paper my senior year in high school. I used it in my freshman comp class also. I remember going to the computer lab in the library my junior, I think, year of college and playing with an early form of the Internet. You know, my roommate in college my sophomore year had a computer in our room. I used her computer to type. Then, my senior year of college, I bought my first computer, in Dec., right before I did my student teaching. That also reminds me that I took a distance learning class from the University of Iowa and I would type my answers on Shakespeare and snail mail them to her. I imagine we would do it much differently today. We would probably email. When I started working on my master's, I began playing with the idea of using computers in first year comp. I wondered how hypertext changed the way people thought and made connections. I also wondered if discussion boards could provide a way to open up conversations between students in the same composition class. Some people might think that this seems artificial, but sometimes we would stay in the same lab and have conversations via discussion board, while we were in the same room together. I felt like the comments toward student writing were better. Do I love computers? hmmm. I did get my third computer a year ago last December. Aaron bought it as a Christmas present because he knew I would need it for school. I love my laptop. I went computer shopping with my sister last week, and it made me want a new and improved computer. Oh, well. Thinking of how technology has affected my life--or is part of my life is very interesting question. Thanks for asking it. I would like to write more about it later.