Schools and the educational sector have undergone the most apparent changes, especially since the start of the pandemic.
Today, college students can use AI chatbots or the skilled help of professional paper writer service platforms to write or rewrite an essay. They can find any information they need while writing an assignment online and stay abreast of the ever-changing rules of written English.
But, essay writing’s union with technology hasn’t been all rosy. Technology has also left negative marks on essay writing, and this article will reveal the good and bad sides of technology’s influence.
Provides Access to Better Learning Materials
With access to smartphones, laptops, and the internet, students can get almost any information they need to back their essay points up online. Unlike the 90s, when you had to use a library to find references and ideas, nowadays, you can write an entire paper without stepping out of your house.
Technology has given students infinite learning materials in portable devices. And the quality and relevance of the learning materials students can access today have also improved. These factors are among the most significant improvements in education today, and it seems like things will only get better.
Facilitates Creative Expressions
Students can become more creative when composing essays with the many writing and design tools available. They don’t have to pen thoughts like soulless robots following preset rules. Technology gives them a privileged view of the strides of famous writers and how they nurtured their creativity.
College students can now craft essays expressing their thoughts uniquely without flaunting the core rules of essay writing. And with ebooks, audiobooks, and video aid, they learn new words and expressions to spice up their writing. This technology-fueled development fosters diversity.
Reduces Errors
Perhaps the most obvious way technology has improved essay writing is how it has significantly reduced students’ writing errors. With AI and grammar checkers, the amount of work needed during the editing stage reduces. Advanced plugins can even check contextual inconsistencies and suggest better ways for you to present an idea.
Before, students could only get this level of thoroughness after submitting their drafts to their professors for editing. And even then, they could still miss some errors due to human oversight. The writing tools eliminate that problem, improve your essay’s quality, and simplify editing.
Encourages Thoughtfulness
Since some students submit their essays on public online forums where many people can read and criticize them, they put more work into their writing. The fear of writing something inappropriate or tacky and the backlash it could bring can make you more attentive when writing.
Technology and information will keep you abreast of the proper ways to address people today and which words are offensive. You will learn the alternative lingo, filter out unintended slurs, and generally spend more time reviewing your writing to ensure it fits public demand. This attention to detail will help you become a better writer.
Makes Writing Faster
Word processors are becoming more feature-packed with every update. You can now use tools that save your changes instantly on the cloud, reducing the risk of losing your progress. Instead of writing with a pen or typewriter and discarding sheets after reviewing drafts, you can quickly correct errors with writing software.
But that’s just scratching the surface. Technology now lets you speak words into existence. Yes, you can create your essay faster using speech-to-text software.
Though the implementation of this program isn’t yet a hundred percent efficient in many cases, its future applications are endless. Tools like these make you a faster writer, letting you reduce the time between ideation and essay submission.
Enables Plagiarism
With so much information at your fingertips, the temptation to take other people’s ideas without referencing them is high. Today, many students copy someone’s work from the internet and pass it off as theirs. Technology has given these students an outlet for their laziness, guaranteeing that they still submit quality articles without doing due diligence.
To save time, many writers copy and paste other people’s content. Though there are tools to combat plagiarism, students still find ways around them. This negative effect has affected originality and diversity in writing.
Encourages Overdependence on Technology
When writers use digital tools too often, they may become dependent on them. For instance, a student editing their papers with software like Grammarly may get too familiar with the suggestions and lose the ability to spot errors unaided. And if they need to write without the tool, they would struggle.
Overdependence on digital tools can hamper students’ mental development and confidence in their abilities. Writers start relying on these tools instead of trusting themselves — sometimes against their better judgment. But automation tools aren’t always contextually correct, so following their every suggestion may worsen your essay.
Boxes Writers In
Technology can stifle creativity if you abuse it. Many digital platforms have strict restrictions around how their writers present their ideas. You may not have considered it, but these rules can box writers in, forcing them to use the same writing pattern and eliminating individuality.
Writing templates take this problem up a notch by creating a safe bubble for writers. The students may then struggle to see alternative approaches to those the templates suggest. Those who aren’t grounded in essay writing are most likely to suffer from this mental restriction, as they aren’t confident enough to deviate from the path digital tools have set.
Conclusion
Technology has affected essay writing and influenced students’ writing patterns and skills. While most of the impact has been positive, writers now face new issues because of technology’s role in their projects and careers. But no matter the mark technology makes on your essay skills, knowing its effects will open your eyes to the best ways to use digital tools for writing.