By Angela Wallace
Sophomore media arts student Diane Mayne has had the blank-screen stare many times before and will have it many times in the future.
Although it?s fiercely common in computer labs all over campus, many students including Mayne, a sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., just spill everything out on the page and let the word processor do all the work.
While students rely on technology more and more, few discover the hidden effects that stem from using technology skills, usually learned before college. In fact, Utah legislators are inching toward implementing technology electives in secondary schools to make sure students are properly equipped before they head to college.
In such an information-driven society, college students, especially freshmen, have found some word processor programs to be a replacement for basic writing skills like grammar rules, punctuation and spelling.
Katie Bridges, a senior English major from Layton, has found many case studies in her years serving as a tutor at the BYU Writing Center.
? don?t know grammar rules,? Bridges said. ?They take for granted that Word would fix most of their mistakes. I?ve worked here for two years, and I?ve seen a real lack of grammatical knowledge. They don?t know how to use a comma and are mostly freshman. They rely a lot on computers and don?t fix things themselves.?
Although modern technology has enhanced academic performance in the last few decades, it has also hampered students? efforts toward learning from common mistakes.
?I think technology is a great thing, but it?s also a crutch,? said Michael Lemon, a Writing Fellow and senior from Springfield, Penn., majoring in music. ?With a computer, it?s so easy to us. We?re crippled because there?s a button for everything. It just doesn?t get easier than using a computer.?
Because computers were made to make life easier, as a result, reference materials are left to collect dust on shelves all over campus.
However, technology also has imperfections of its own. Assuming that programs like Word and WordPerfect are merely perfect can also lead students to mistakes.
? sometimes helps with spell check and grammar, but I know people assume it?s correct,? said Scott Horton, 18, a freshman physics major from Sandy. ?Sometimes it will be the correct word with the wrong usage. It can be helpful, but you have to be careful and avoid being lazy with your papers.?
Perhaps the easiest way to avoid mistakes despite after using word processing programs is to read your paper out loud.
?They also make silly mistakes,? said Elizabeth Swenson, a writing center grammar tutor and senior from Chicago, majoring in English language. ?Plus, they don?t read the final draft of it. Most of the time, I have them read through their final draft out loud, so they can see if it makes sense before they turn it in. Other times, students will drop words they need or have some typos.?
This has worked for Mayne as well, who comes to the Writing Center for help with her major papers for her English and film classes. In fact, she recently came in for help with her film review for an English 311 class and said she just wanted to make sure it was easy to follow.
?I come in mostly for a final check,? Mayne said. ?I just want to make sure it was coherent. I don?t come in for one-page essays, but I do come in for my big papers.?
Another important skill students sometimes struggle to learn after taking these technology electives is typing. Although most students learn the basics of typing in these classes, some pick it up leisurely outside the classroom.
?The TLC class and the computer class in high school was a requirement for me,? Horton said. ?It?s helpful to learn the basics, but I forgot how to type after that until I started instant messaging. That?s how I learned how to type, and I type moderately well. When you talk online, it?s more of something you want to do.?
With students not learning basic technology skills until it?s important or necessary to them, the question still remains if college is too late of a time to pick up such skills.
Because the load of writing papers increases in college, most high school students should have at least some practice in writing long papers. However, sometimes the learning curve in using technology with papers comes in introductory English classes at BYU.
?I didn?t learn them in high school either,? Swenson said. ?I learned them in college.?
Handwriting skills of college students may also be lacking with the increase of computer usage. As typing becomes more prominent, penmanship stays on the backburner.
?Handwriting skills seem like they?re becoming archaic these days, and our spelling skills are going out the window,? Lemon said. ?I know with my own writing, I write a little bit, and my hand hurts.?
Despite most classes require written papers, there are some exceptions where handwriting skills are actually important.
?You still have to use like in math,? Horton said. ?But for a big paper, you have to type it up.?