Meet the authors of "Is the Pen Mightier than the Laptop? Digital Natives and Their Preferred Writing Tools"

The Utah State University History of Writing class collaborated in conducting research and wrote the article “Is the Pen Mightier than the Laptop? Digital Natives and Their Preferred Writing Tools” to gain perspective on how people who have grown up in the digital age have adapted to current writing trends and technologies. The collaborative research project was conducted by Avery Truman (corresponding author), Dylan Ash, Mason Bodell, Jane Harvey, Clarissa Lloyd, Ellie Miller, Lauren Myers, Hannah Potter, William Spence, Anna Tuite, Isabelle Vasquez, Nevaeh Villastrigo, and Landon Corbett alongside Dr. Joyce Kinkead, who served as their principal investigator. 

Their research process included conducting a literature review, creating a survey, and writing essay prompts for study participants to complete. Once the coauthors received completed responses from participants, they analyzed patterns that emerged in the use of writing tools across writers and how they influenced their identity as writers. Although this project was initially for course credit, the researchers submitted it to YSW due to its discerning insight into writing technologies utilized in today’s highly digital era. The research group is comprised of students of a variety of majors and educational backgrounds. Still, their overall goal was to see how a collaborative research paper like this could influence how they might execute an independent project in the future. 

The students shared that this experience will help them in future research endeavors. Ellie Miller, a coauthor, “loved this opportunity” because “as a student in STEM, research is something I will spend the majority of my career around, whether that be analyzing the research of my peers or conducting my own research.” Other students also expressed that their experience presenting at their University's Spring Student Research Symposium solidified their interest in submitting and presenting independent research in the coming years.

The research group shared that simply being around other students who were passionate about their research led to a greater appreciation for the research process. For Hannah Potter, it was exciting to be surrounded by a group of enthusiastic researchers. “It was really cool to see students so passionate about their projects,” she shared. William Spence echoed this, sharing that he was surprised to find how much he enjoyed the symposium's social environment. “In my opinion, interacting with people about something you are passionate about is half the fun of being passionate about something.” Navaeh Villastrigo found inspiration in how curious everyone was and in their willingness to ask questions. “Overall, I had a greater appreciation for research in general because I was able to share and relate ideas with other researchers,” she said. 

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This post was initially developed through a partnership between Dr. Cope’s Fall 2023 WRT280: Research Methods students, who interviewed the author, and Dr. Cutrufello’s Fall 2023 WRT320: Digital Writing students, who drafted the post. Lee Krauss edited and updated it for publication.