Why I Will Never GIve Up Paper

(Diane showed me this video. The tech war continues, but I think there is a clear winner.)

I know, I know, paper and pencils are so passé, such anachronisms in the 21^st century, that I shouldn’t even be blogging about them; however, I would like to suggest that paper and pencils are to writing essays, what creeping and crawling are to reading.

Everyone would probably agree that typing on a computer is not the same as writing on a piece paper.  So, by eliminating paper and pencils, might we actually be skipping an important developmental milestone that impacts how the brain develops? Will losing the physical connection to writing affect human evolution? Studies in neuroscience, biopsychology, and evolutionary psychology actually bear out the cognitive benefits of putting pen to paper. A “hand is not merely a metaphor or an icon of humanness, but is often the real-life focal point of a successful and genuinely fulfilling life.”

Undoubtedly, word processing is a convenience for many. Typing is faster than writing, easier to read, edited (if you use spell and grammar check, albeit not 100% foolproof). But does convenience trump all? For example, it’s often more convenient to drive than walk, to reach for fast food rather than cook, to watch TV instead of having a conversation, but we all know that these things should not replace exercise, healthy eating, and talking.

Moderation, temperance, restraint, limits…we need to stop our all or nothing mentality when it comes to computers and technology and start thinking about how they can complement important processes, not replace them entirely. 

Finding Info: Teaching Search Skills

"Pssssst, Felix. Over here."

1. Here is the lesson plan Julie and I made for middle schoolers doing an author search. The purpose of the lesson is to teach the useful skill of narrowing searches and analysing/verifying site credibility.

2. Even though the Jeff Utecht tutorials are only seven months old, changes to Google have made some of the info obsolete. For example, in the image search there was no color box to filter colors. Now, there is a button for Search Tools with filtering options. Here's a tutorial I put together with Jing:

Where's that filter?

I liked Jing a lot for creating a screen capture video; it's super easy to use with a great interface BUT not so easy to share always.

Here a tutorial with sound using QuickTime. This was not as easy to create as Jing, but really easy to share.

The great thing about creating these tutorials, as Julie so wisely pointed out to me, is that kids who are absent or who didn't get it the first time now have instant replay!