Rough Draft of paper

Note to self: Articles currently hyperlinked with a bit in the text later so I can add in proper MLA formatting. Whatever that means.

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Technology has a way of changing society and the way things are done. A written language changed how we remember things. Mass printing changed access to information. High speed communications changed the speed with which we could access information. Each of these innovations have, over time, redefined exactly how people define knowledge, literacy, information, sharing, and even community. Without these vital technologies, humanity would still be banging two stones together to create fire while making guttural sounds to warn others of impending danger.

It should be noted, however, that technology hasn't decided to just stop. Instead, technological advances continue trudging forward. Computers have, in recent years, taken all of the previous advances and placed them in one relatively convenient package. Prices have been dropping for entry level machines, high speed internet access has been expanding in markets across the world, and questions are being raised. Namely, how should these new technologies be incorporated into existing structures. Computers have, over the past four decades, wormed their ways into the existing hierarchies to the point where most corporations would be lost without the digital machines.

However, education is not one of those areas. While computers do inhabit more classrooms, and more and more classes are taking place at or around desktops, a good majority of schooling is still done using books, with notes that are taken by more manual means. In fact, despite the recent ubiquity of portable computing, including numerous models of laptops, netbooks, and tablets, many class rooms and professors are banning these machines. An article in the Washington Post noted: "Krahel plans to ban laptops from his classrooms, despite using his as an undergrad -- or perhaps because of it. He admits to getting caught up with distractions on his laptop and realizing what a waste it was, either because of a poor grade, "having to do a lot of catching up on my own time, or asking for other people's help." (WASHINGTON POST) However, if these machines are growing in ubiquity, should educational institutions restrict a students access to the machines? Or should schools instead foster an enviornment where access isn't restricted, and is in fact encouraged to help teach literacy in the new world?