A few days ago Kellie brought her new laptop to me and wanted to know how to accept a file sent to her by a friend. I took a lookat the problem and saw that the file in question was being sent via an Instant Message (IM) client. In this case, the IM client was AOL Instant Messager (AIM). Being somewhat curious at this point, I began to observe what she was doing. It seems that one of her friends was having trouble with a homework assignment and had asked for Kellie's help. The problem in question was handed out that day in school. Since Kellie did not have the particulat piece of paper on hand, her classmate simply scanned the page on her scanner, sent the file to Kellie, and the two began to discuss the problem.
This doesn't sound particurlarly unusual until you understand that at no time during the discussion was there any spoken communication. The entire event took place during a chat session while Kellie typed happily away on her wireless laptop. Times have changed since I was in 7th grade!
I wonder sometimes if my kids truely understand the advantages in communication they have today. Kellie has at her fingertips quicker access to more information than my entire town library had when I was her age.
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