It all begins with a pencil and a pen; and before that, a crayon. Children's first literacy tools are those hand-held writing devices we all know and love and really could not live without even if we didn't have computers. The telephone and the television-with its accompaniments like VCR and DVD are also parts of the child's early arsenal of technology, used to speak, listen, and communicate with others. I availed myself of all of these tools, gradually learning how I could communicate with people at a distance. These early tools required little instruction. Holding a pen or pencil and learning to write the letters of the alphabet required some instruction, and talking on the phone took some getting used to, but to watch television required none.

             Next I was introduced to computers, which were initially used just for learning but soon evolved into communications devices. Computers were a major source of my early literacy and learning development because they open so many doors and are such valuable machines. Teachers taught me many of the basic tools required for using computers but ultimately I learned a lot on my own. Finally, the Internet completely altered the way I think, learn and communicate, perhaps more than any other technological tool. The resources available on the World Wide Web were instrumental in enabling me to read and learn about topics that interested me outside of what I learned in school and also enhanced the way I did research for school projects. E-mail allowed me to communicate with people any time, anywhere, and so did instant messaging.

             Technology impacts both my personal and professional life. Communicating with friends and family would be impossible without technological tools: at the very least a telephone. E-mail allows me to stay in contact with people regularly and cheaply. I have also begun to witness how computers become the backbone of businesses, enabling them to run efficiently.