We are very divided as parents when it comes to the use of technology in our children's lives. Some whole-heartedly embrace it, and some absolutely abhor the idea of allowing their children to spend any time in front of the computer. As with many great things in life, if we don't use it wisely, we end up getting hurt more than we benefit.

I don't allow my students nor my children to spend precious time on the computer playing games; however, I encourage them to spend time writing on the computer and visiting educational websites to take quizzes and read informative articles. I even encourage them to write e-mail, provided they produce content rich e-mail.

More and more children's educational websites are requiring subscriptions. I subscribe to several websites my students really enjoy. Brainpop.com, edhelper.com, and dictionary.com all got high marks. Their content is consistently entertaining and educational and they provide fresh material every day.

Surprisingly, standard issue software has turned out to be one of technology's most useful educational tools. Microsoft Office has helped my students and children improve their writing at an astonishing speed. Not many people would think that Microsoft Word, which is primarily designed for adults, could have such an impact on a young child's learning and writing. I didn't know myself until my six-year-old daughter played around with the program and became instantly hooked. She wrote story after story non-stop for entire month; she would opt out of playing outside with her friends and eating dinner to concentrate on her stories.

Within one year, she has written more than 250,000 words. Last February she received an unsolicited invitation to appear on Good Morning America. If learning to use an adult oriented word processing program could accelerate Adora's progress exponentially, would a similar strategy work with other children? I decided to find out. I started my school's first writing workshop by encouraging students to learn to type. Within days, the students caught up to speed and started to create beautiful stories. I have been impressed by their output, but their changing attitude towards writing is even more amazing. Children who were once constantly frustrated by erasing and re-writing are now free to express their ideas. They have become avid readers and writers in a few weeks time.

The success of our workshop and my daughter's publication of her first book convinced me that technology is tremendously useful in our students' learning as long as we should teach them to use it wisely and effectively. When technology is implemented to enhance learning instead of being offered as a mere instrument for entertainment, it can reduce the time it takes to master a subject while making learning more enjoyable and fulfilling.