Typing vs. Handwriting
Technology is an amazing thing that we use constantly throughout our day. As an educator, I am frequently relying on technology to help me teach throughout the day. My students get so excited whenever we use technology in the classroom, especially when they get to use their Chromebooks. Although there are so many benefits to technology in the classroom, I can’t help but wonder if we are using it too much.
I have come to rely on the technology in my classroom for so many things. My computer is able to wirelessly connect to the screen at the front of the room which allows me to move around and write on my laptop which then shows up on the board. Many of the curriculums my school uses have online components where students can complete the same work they would normally do on paper on their Chromebooks. I have come to rely on this when teaching many things, but whenever the internet goes out or there are technology issues, I often find myself scrambling to adjust.
Handwriting is one of the areas I have begun to notice a struggle with when it comes to technology. There is so much of a push for typing and using technology that many students' handwriting is lacking. I have often allowed my students to type assignments simply because they are far more motivated to learn when there is a Chromebook involved. The middle school and high school in my district, along with other districts, require students to type far more often than to handwrite. Because of this, there has been a push for typing and computer skills. As third graders, my students are still quite slow at typing so using computers can take up much more class time than just having students handwrite. This time lost during typing impacts the ability of students to work on their handwriting skills.
This shift to typing and using computers rather than paper and pencil has led to a decline in handwriting skills, especially cursive. Many schools no longer teach cursive. My district asks that third-grade teachers teach their students cursive, but there is no set curriculum to use or time in the schedule. Cursive often ends up getting pushed to the end of the year and there is not always enough time to teach it completely. My younger brother never learned cursive and I remember when he was in high school and he asked for my help reading a letter our mom had written to him. My mom writes in cursive and he was struggling to read it because he had never been taught cursive. My brother is wonderful at typing things, but he struggles to write legibly, and he has only recently learned how to read and write in cursive. There are many students just like my brother.
In the article Handwriting May Boost Brain Connections More than Typing, Claudia López Lloreda shares many of the benefits that handwriting brings. Handwriting can improve memory recall and spelling accuracy as well as an understanding of concepts (López Llorda, 2024). Research has shown that handwriting “increased the connectivity across parietal brain regions, which are involved in sensory and motor processing, and central ones, many of which are involved in memory” (López Llorda, 2024). Typing did not show the same beneficial effect. In a podcast with Laura Stewart (2022), she shares how cognitive space can be freed up with automatized handwriting skills.
With these findings, I can’t help but wonder if there should be more of an emphasis on handwriting skills, especially in the younger grades. At my school, handwriting is only focused on in Kindergarten and first grade. By second grade students are beginning to focus more on typing rather than handwriting. Typing is a valuable skill that all students need to have due to the frequent use of technology all around them, but handwriting is a skill that should not be forgotten with the push towards technology and typing.
Resources:
López Lloreda, C. L. (2024, January 26). Handwriting may boost brain connections more than typing does. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/handwriting-brain-connections-learning
Stewart, L. (2022, October 1). How handwriting supports the science of reading. https://www.voyagersopris.com/podcasts/2022/how-handwriting-supports-the-science-of-reading
I have come to rely on the technology in my classroom for so many things. My computer is able to wirelessly connect to the screen at the front of the room which allows me to move around and write on my laptop which then shows up on the board. Many of the curriculums my school uses have online components where students can complete the same work they would normally do on paper on their Chromebooks. I have come to rely on this when teaching many things, but whenever the internet goes out or there are technology issues, I often find myself scrambling to adjust.
Handwriting is one of the areas I have begun to notice a struggle with when it comes to technology. There is so much of a push for typing and using technology that many students' handwriting is lacking. I have often allowed my students to type assignments simply because they are far more motivated to learn when there is a Chromebook involved. The middle school and high school in my district, along with other districts, require students to type far more often than to handwrite. Because of this, there has been a push for typing and computer skills. As third graders, my students are still quite slow at typing so using computers can take up much more class time than just having students handwrite. This time lost during typing impacts the ability of students to work on their handwriting skills.
This shift to typing and using computers rather than paper and pencil has led to a decline in handwriting skills, especially cursive. Many schools no longer teach cursive. My district asks that third-grade teachers teach their students cursive, but there is no set curriculum to use or time in the schedule. Cursive often ends up getting pushed to the end of the year and there is not always enough time to teach it completely. My younger brother never learned cursive and I remember when he was in high school and he asked for my help reading a letter our mom had written to him. My mom writes in cursive and he was struggling to read it because he had never been taught cursive. My brother is wonderful at typing things, but he struggles to write legibly, and he has only recently learned how to read and write in cursive. There are many students just like my brother.
In the article Handwriting May Boost Brain Connections More than Typing, Claudia López Lloreda shares many of the benefits that handwriting brings. Handwriting can improve memory recall and spelling accuracy as well as an understanding of concepts (López Llorda, 2024). Research has shown that handwriting “increased the connectivity across parietal brain regions, which are involved in sensory and motor processing, and central ones, many of which are involved in memory” (López Llorda, 2024). Typing did not show the same beneficial effect. In a podcast with Laura Stewart (2022), she shares how cognitive space can be freed up with automatized handwriting skills.
With these findings, I can’t help but wonder if there should be more of an emphasis on handwriting skills, especially in the younger grades. At my school, handwriting is only focused on in Kindergarten and first grade. By second grade students are beginning to focus more on typing rather than handwriting. Typing is a valuable skill that all students need to have due to the frequent use of technology all around them, but handwriting is a skill that should not be forgotten with the push towards technology and typing.
Resources:
López Lloreda, C. L. (2024, January 26). Handwriting may boost brain connections more than typing does. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/handwriting-brain-connections-learning
Stewart, L. (2022, October 1). How handwriting supports the science of reading. https://www.voyagersopris.com/podcasts/2022/how-handwriting-supports-the-science-of-reading
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