The discussion of technology centers around the idea that computers are just tools that help teachers accomplish their instructional goals and as such should not be the focus of instruction. Since technology adds layers of complexity to our writing classrooms, it is important for teachers to critically examine technological issues. However, these issues always need to be examined in the light of how they affect the teaching and learning of writing.The authors also point out the need to focus on the fundamental questions, such as how to identify information to be learned, how to evaluate the credibility of sources, how we learn and remember, how we read and write, and (in part because of rapid changes that can become a distraction) how not to allow technology to take center stage. A focus on technology provides only short-term answers since the technologies we have today will be very different tomorrow.
Therefore, it is important to always bear in mind that computers support instruction, but should not dictate or dominate it; they are only a tool that permits teachers and students to do what they could do in other ways as well. To be able to use this tool effectively in their classroom, teachers need to become lifelong learners who know how to learn as new technologies emerge.
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