Adam Bauer

WRT 205
Panthee
Synthesis Essay

In today’s day and age, individuals have created a dependency on technology

and its contributions to society. With students, companies and organizations relying on

todays’ technological advances, creativity and originality have been dissipating among

our citizens. While innovation is a fundamental aspect of humankind, today’s

generations rely too heavily on the convenience of technology.

Technology has revolutionized all aspects of the everyday life. Dennis Baron

brings some significant issues to attention in the article, “From Pencils to Pixels: The

Stages of Literacy Technologies.” From the very start of his writing, Baron mentions that

the latest development in writing technology, the computer, “promises, or threatens, to

change literacy practices for better or worse, depending on your point of view” (Baron,

1999). Baron makes it clear that he is dependent on the computer as a new technology

of writing in order to help develop his career as a writer. As a consequence of being so

accustomed to jotting down all of his thoughts using a keyboard, Baron states that he

has forgotten how to draft thoughts efficiently by hand onto a sheet of paper. I admit that

I also rely heavily on computers to get work done. We now live in a digitalized day and

age where spellcheck takes care of minuscule writing errors for us, teachers put

assignments on websites, and students submit papers online. I agree with Baron that

it’s valuable to use computers to complete tasks, but it’s just as important to remember

how to brainstorm with a pen on a piece of paper.

Most of my professors this semester have come to the same realization as Baron.

My professors now require their students to take handwritten notes only, and have even
prohibited the use of laptops and smart-phones in class because they believe that we

learn and remember information best from listening to them, making connections, and

writing our thoughts down on paper. Baron makes a good point when he states,

“whether it consists of energized particles on a screen or ink embedded in paper or lines

gouged into clay tablets, writing itself is always first and foremost a technology, a way of

engineering materials in order to accomplish an end” (Baron, 1999). Yes, a computer

may be the most recent writing technology, but that does not mean we should use

keyboards in place of pencils and pens. Although handwriting may seem outdated

compared to the newest Macbook Pro, it will always be an essential skill. Knowing how

to express ideas through writing should not be forgotten no matter how many more

cutting-edge tools are developed even after the computer is eventually taken for granted

the way that Baron claims the pencil is today at the end of his article.

While reading the responses of and interviewing my classmates, I found a

multitude of and patterns and agreements as my peers. For example, in Michael Kelly’s

response, he states that his computer and cell phone are the most vital elements to his

everyday life, just as it is for me (Kelly, 2018). In addition, Michael states that his

computer poses and completes various needs, such as writing an assignment or

reading a paper (Kelly, 2018). Likewise, I find that I have similar patterns due to the fact

that most classes nowadays require computational resources to complete assignments

and post information. On the other hand, I found a plethora of anomalies in the

responses of my classmates. For example, Leam Cohen explains how he is often

possessed of informal and incorrect writing when texting his friends (Cohen, 2018).

However, I find I am obsessed with consistently correcting my spelling and grammar

even if it is just a text. For example, I am a stickler for using the correct form of “your” or

“you’re.” Overall, while there are patterns in my peers responses, there are also

interpretations of anomalies: not everyone uses technology to the same degree, it is a

spectrum.

While I find I do the majority of my writing through texting, I find it inhibits my

ability to fully process other normal writing means. I find Michaela Cullington – author of

“Does Texting Affect Writing?” – explains the situation in an understandable manner.

Cullington points out that there is an ongoing debate about whether or not using

textspeak and or abbreviations hinders the writing abilities of students. She then states,

“Although some believe that texting has either a positive or negative effect on writing, it

in fact seems likely that texting has no significant effect on student writing” (Cullington,

2010). Throughout the rest of her writing, Cullington goes on to support her argument

with evidence. It’s interesting that Cullington wanted to conduct her own research

because she felt that by doing this, she could “get different, more personal, perspectives

on the issue” (Cullington, 2010). In addition, Cullington surveyed high school and

college students, looked for opinions from teachers, and examined writing samples to

see if she could find appearances of “textspeak” in formal writing. Cullington says she

specifically “looked for use of abbreviations and other common slang terms and

sayings, especially those usages which the students had stated in their surveys were

most common” (Cullington, 2010) in the writing samples that she analyzed in order to

help her take a stance on the debate. Because Cullington conducted her own research,

she used her findings to form a conclusion. Based on the results of her data, since she

did not find instances of “textspeak” appearing in the writing samples of the students,
she was able to come to the realization that her “research suggests that texting actually

has a minimal effect on student writing” (Cullington, 2010).

Overall, while technology has its pros – such as spellcheck and the typical social

media outlet – there are often cons that come with this innovation. With heavy reliance

on todays’ technological advances, creativity and originality have been dissipating

among our citizens. Although innovation is a fundamental aspect of humankind, today’s

generations rely too heavily on the convenience of technology. In addition, opinions

among classmates, professors or colleagues may vary, but in general the concept of

technology is a central part of our daily processes. Overall, the roots of our simple

beginnings are starting to dissipate resulting in today’s generations to rely too

profoundly on the handiness of technology.