Dennis Barron’s article From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology discusses the advancement we as humans have made in literacy. There was no debate on the uses of a pencil which is how most of our literacy began, however, the case is different with the use of computers. Many say computers hinder true literacy and we should stick to pencil and paper. On the other hand, for my writing processes, I prefer to use a computer for many reasons. With my computer, I can simply ramble or type for as long as I want on first drafts without getting hand cramps. But when I type at least a page on paper, my hand tends to feel like this:

Additionally, editing a rough draft on the computer is more convenient because we can type full detailed comments. When I would give peer review in a classroom through pencil and paper, I would have to then explain what I really meant to my peer. This was because I couldn’t fully write everything I saw correctly or incorrectly in their paper. Through the suggestions viewing on google docs, you can edit anything you want and it pops up as its own comment so then the other person can decide if they prefer your way or what they had already written. Lastly, the computer offers more organization than paper drafts or essays. If I had a huge writing assignment where I would go through multiple stages of review and drafts, I would end up with only half of my work. Losing paper is much easier than losing documents on a computer especially with Microsoft Word or Google Docs.