Gabe writes, “I believe that there are many students out there who feel like J and me. J., as Sloane states on p. 63, finds word processing ‘impersonal,’ a hindrance to ‘thinking,’ and an ‘object that has the capacity to randomly transform his message.’ And this, obviously, is a feeling whose root is in J.'s educational and writing history. Our experiences make us wary of using the computer. But computers do have much to offer in the way of editing techniques. And most of us have already bought into the notion that computer literacy is an essential component of professional and educational success. So how do we as instructors help students trust the word processor as they trust the old pen and paper?” This is a very good question and one that we should address even if we can’t find the definitive answer. How do we get students to feel as comfortable with the computer as they already do with pen and paper? Maybe it is impossible. Maybe cognitively computers and pen and ink have different functions. Perhaps we should teach both and allow the use of both. Do students suffer when we force the use of one over the other? In J’s case yes. Does this happen in the cases of other students? (It happened with Gabe.) Maybe the key is familiarity and they only need to be shown how and to practice (and then again maybe familiarity does breed contempt).

Courtney writes, "students who are accustomed to editing as they type, may experience difficulty during in-class writing exercises in which computers remain unused. In contrast, a student who is accustomed to, and actually prefers, pen and paper as opposed to a computer may appear deficient in the process of generating ideas because just as the student J, he or she is unable to jot the ideas down in the margins because on the computer or word processor margins for scribbling notes are absent." Ah, the double edged sword. So what is the answer? Do we make computers optional at times? Do we switch between keyboard & monitor and pen & paper? Do we let the old technology fade into the background just because there is something new? Maybe the answer is to let students choose their preferred medium while still teaching them how to use the new technology.