Hay composite High School in Stettler, and president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association educational technology council. He confirms that students aren’t taught the mechanics of how to use a computer the way they were a decade ago. The goal in assigning an essay is to teach students to communicate eloquently and make a persuasive argument, not to use a word processing program. But, by typing the essay on a computer, the student becomes increasingly comfortable in a digital environment. “It’s not about teaching kids how to use the computer,” Teasdale says, “it’s about teaching other skills using the computer.”