Spelling or Communicating?
As an educator, "Things That Make Us Smart" has enticed me to reflect on how technology affects learning. Norman explains how computers help us make "artifacts", which we use instead of memorizing things. In the same way that memorizing figures is no longer important, several other skills traditionally taught in schools have also become outdated of late.
Luddites often allege that kids today don't know how to spell or write gramatically because of the influence of computers. I in turn ask why spelling will be important when spell-check will be available any time the student will be writing. Indeed, I think that the ability to represent things representationally and in an abstract form may be a more important skill. Too often, we get bogged down in the specific skills without thinking about the larger goal, in this case creating effective communicators. In a world where global trading is prevalent, the ability to effectively create a graph or chart to represent an idea will be valued much more than the ability to spell effectively.
Of course, the ability to write is an extremely important skill - and one that a computer can not do for us. I think that computers have the ability to make our students better writers. It is not just the ability to easily revise, print, and do other basics that can make stronger writers. I acutally think spell-check can make better writers. I have seen several kindergarten teachers encourage their student to write using "invented spelling". The idea is that students should not get bogged down in the spelling of words, but should instead scribble more than if they had to ask or agonize about the spelling of each word. For older students, spellcheck can provide that same boost. It can allow them to write without the need to repeatedly look up the spelling of words, and thus concentrate on their ideas.