A study in the British Journal of Educational Technology entitled Writing through time: longitudinal studies of the effects of new technology on writing took a look at the writing process and the effects of new technology on writing. What the study intended to do was settle the debate over whether or not technology had an impact on the quality of writing. The article explored different studies conducted on students that evaluated hand written essays in comparison to computer written essays. What was most interesting about this article is that it highlighted the composing process. I think a really important idea that this article points out is that technology is a tool that the writer uses and therefore it does not play a major role in the composing process (as far as pre- writing and writing are concerned). On the other had what computers and technology do aid in is the revision process. Computers make it easier to revise drafts and as a result students are more apt to do more revisions. Likewise, some computers have programs that aid in grammar and spelling corrections that students are able to implement in their writing. This article also explores the writing process of three published writer and how it changed over time, as new technology developed. What the study showed was that even though the tools these writers used changed, their process for the most part stayed the same. The article states, “although the three authors differ from each other as writers, they are remarkably constant over time” (148). All three maintained some sore of pre-write, draft and revision activities in their writing. Clearly, this study shows that technology, and computers specifically, do not necessarily have a negative effect on the way students write. I think this idea relates directly to blogging because it shows that blogs will not necessarily have a negative influence on the way students write. As the article suggests, there is no reason to believe that the quality of posts would be any less adequate then any other class assignments.
