Is The Pen Mightier Than The Keyboard?

[dragon wench]

Is the pen mightier than the keyboard?

Computers, e-mail and text messaging mean students now spend more time punching keys than pushing a pencil. But they're losing something more than just the ability to write legibly.

Monday, April 18, 2005
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

He struggles with reading. He butchers spelling words. And his handwriting used to be an illegible scrawl. But Robert Hughes is the envy of his Grade 5 classmates.

While they sit at their desks at Ecole Gron Morgan in Thunder Bay with pens in hand, crafting sentences about ancient civilizations, Robert uses a sleek new laptop computer -- complete with spell-checker, Internet hook-up and software that dictates his voice into words on the screen -- for all his writing assignments. The only time he actually has to pick up a pencil is during math class.

Not that his classmates envy his mild learning disability -- his tortures with spelling and the clumsy chicken-scratch handwriting that trails off the page -- that has made the laptop a last resort for a boy who was losing ground in the classroom. But for children raised in a high-tech age of computers and cellphones and hand-held e-mail devices, ordinary pencils and paper seem painfully outdated.

"You talk into it and it writes," Robert says with wonder. "I've been practising at school because it needs to learn my voice. For my project today, I wrote, 'At the Toronto Zoo, there are endangered species like the Arctic fox and the white tiger.' I had to type a bit."

Advertisements

Both his teacher and his parents are certain that keyboard skills will be more important to Robert's academic prospects than handwriting. "For him, the laptop has definitely been the right solution," says his mother, Michelle Hughes, an information technology analyst with a cellphone and BlackBerry at the ready. "He has the opportunity now to keep up and maybe catch up in areas where he has fallen behind."

But Robert's is hardly an isolated case. An entire generation of Canadian students now spends more time at a computer and less time pushing a pencil -- and handwriting instruction is taking a backseat to keyboarding.

In an age when e-mail is replacing ink-stained letters and pocket-sized BlackBerries have turned address books into relics, handwriting is becoming a lost art.

And nowhere is this more obvious than in the schools, where few teachers still bother to teach their primary-grade pupils the prim printed letters or the evenly slanted cursive writing that was graded like math and reading scores in days gone by.

"It's really a very important area that got overlooked because of the computer age, and that's very unfortunate" says Marvin Simner, a psychologist at the University of Western Ontario and an expert in handwriting and kindergarten education.

"If they dismiss handwriting instruction in order to teach keyboarding, they're doing a disservice to children. Obviously you have to teach keyboarding skills because this is part of what our environment consists of. But the issue is, should you sacrifice handwriting for the sake of teaching computer skills? And I say, 'No.' I think that's very shortsighted."

To prove the point, Prof. Simner conducted a research study a few years ago in which he compared the writing of pupils in public elementary schools in London, Ont., with that of children enrolled in private Dutch Reform schools, where handwriting and the distinct flourishes of the European-style script are still taught.

Not only was the private-school writing more legible and artfully crafted, students could write faster, producing a full sentence more than a minute faster than their public-school counterparts.

"This gets to be very important," Prof. Simner says. "Obviously, if handwriting is slower and you're taking notes, you're not copying down everything that's important. Children who are struggling with handwriting and are slower tend to forget what they want to say because their thoughts are fleeting. And that affects their grades."

Even with the advent of wafer-thin computers and hand-held electronic gadgets, he does not foretell the end of handwriting as Canadian society knows it.

In Ontario, the Grade 3 and 6 tests in elementary schools and the literacy tests in high school require all but the most learning-disabled to write compositions by hand. Just last month, the all-important SAT test, which U.S. high-school students write (by hand) as a prerequisite for admission into most universities, was expanded to include a written composition.

"It was the same argument back in the 1920s when the typewriter came along: 'Why do we have to teach handwriting when we'll do all our writing on a typewriter?' " he says. "For some people, that will be the case. But many others will still rely on a pencil or pen."

Still, Canadian children have greater access, at home and school, to computers than those of almost every other developed country. As of last year, every school in Canada had computers and almost all were connected to the Internet, with an average of one computer for about every five pupils. At home, even though poor children have less access to computers than their middle-class peers, at least nine of every 10 households own one.

Over the past few decades, school curriculums have been rewritten to reflect the advent of technology, with new expectations about keyboarding prowess vying for classroom time with handwriting.

In British Columbia, students in Grade 3 -- when children are usually taught cursive writing -- are expected to print or write legibly. But they are also required to use word-processing and graphics software, know how to enter, save and retrieve information, and install a disk into a computer.

In Manitoba, Grade 3 students' printing and cursive writing also must be legible. At the same time, the pupils must be able to format text and properly space words either on a page or an electronic screen.

Of course, it is a far cry from the days when Ontario teachers were handed a 100-page tome on handwriting theory and exercises for children. Even in the seventies, every province had a handwriting manual for teachers, and students were subjected to mindlessly repetitive drills to perfect their penmanship.

With the spread of photocopiers in the 1980s, children spent far less time copying sentences from the blackboard. And over the decade that followed, common wisdom came to hold that exposing children to plenty of books was enough, with one study showing senior kindergarten students in Ontario in the late nineties to be spending no more than two minutes a day learning to write.

Nowadays, prospective teachers are no longer given handwriting training at universities and few pupils are taught even to hold a pencil properly.

"Instructors are much more concerned with how to teach children to read," says Joyce Bainbridge, associate dean of elementary education at the University of Alberta and author of a training textbook for teachers that has a chapter on handwriting. "Handwriting is no longer a priority and, when you think about what adults in general do in their lives with handwriting, it's a very small number of things. No doubt about it."

Although some mourn the demise of handwriting, others see it as a welcome sign of the times.

Many educators regard a computer, like a pencil, as another writing implement, and one that can open the world of the written word to children like Robert Hughes who produce indecipherable prose without it.

To them, technologies such as e-mail and text messaging has spawned a literate generation of students who, instead of gossiping on the telephone after school, are composing written messages to friends, even if it is in a language of their own making.

"The important question is, what is it we want the child to be able to demonstrate? We want him to be able to infer and question and draw conclusions, and he can do all that through a computer," says Lesleigh Dye, central co-ordinating principal of literacy for the Toronto District School Board.

"There is so much more emphasis now on what people do with words and less emphasis on the physical handwriting of the word. That's not to say it's not being taught. But as we see children get older and struggle, we are asking them to use a computer."

And, in fact, Robert is learning to write -- but not at school. His parents have hired occupational therapist Karen Pontello to help with his penmanship, and her practice is burgeoning with elementary-school children with indecipherable handwriting.

"The kids could learn to write probably with little intervention," she says. "But the kids that we see probably don't have enough teaching to develop their handwriting to an automatic level. With repetition and practice, they would have picked it up."

Robert's writing has, in his mother's words, "come a long way," but even so he types faster than he writes -- a gap that will grow as he spends more time on his laptop.

"The computer will be a crutch for him, and we're going to have to keep on top of him to make sure he's practising his spelling and his handwriting as well," she adds.

But Robert has other worries at the moment -- such as his classmates. "One of them is always trying to annoy me now," he grumbles. "When I'm using my headphones, he walks up to me and tries to make me talk to him -- so the computer writes it down."

MARGARET PHILP


Thoughts?

[ik911]

Bad stuff. If the computer actively does all the grammar and spelling, how is the student going to compensate that? Speaking is one thing, writing is another.

The exercize one gets when actively thinking about gram&sp every time one writes a word, is taken away. That means the individual becomes completely dependant on computers for his/her writing.

At the same time, the importance of writing does decrease. Knowing how to handle a computer is taking it's place in the rich countries, but to start with that at a young age takes away the active writing exercize and experience with language.

[frogus23]

Half the kids in my history class at school now use laptops in class instead of pens and paper. I have no problem with it. Hand writing is a useful skill, but as Ms.Dye points out, not that useful. I think handwriting classes in school are a travesty of education (as long as children can write legibly).

Teach them to think. If they're articulating thoughts through a computer (as we all seem to manage), then so be it.

P.S It gives me the willies to read French teenagers' writing and it all be the same!

EDIT: Ik makes a very good point, and I agree that spelling and grammar is undertaught throughout education...but wordprocessors have yet to manage to do either very well, so this area is safe for now...

[Xandax]

I've always been way more fluid when writing via a computer then when I wrote via pen n' paper.
The reasons for this I think are many, but when you use handwriting for something that others must read, then you possible spend to much "energy" worrying/thinkning about how it looks, is it readble or not etc.

Problem is when people/students start to rely on spell checkers and what not to be able to forumlate a sentence, however - I don't view it much different from when I grew up. There we used book dictonaries, and looked up the words as well. It just took more time.

Furthermore - in the "old days" you typed your reports in on typewriters, and it was nasty, because mistakes where visible and could detract. Formatting the text, structuring it is way easier and a differnet disciplin nowadays.

As I see it computers are a good tool for writing, because it removes much of the strain both physical (it was physically hard to handwrite for me) and mentally, and allows more room for creative thought.

My biggest issue with it, however is when kids addapt the "AOL"/Leetspeak/SMS/Chat language and uses it as primary. Naturally language "(d)evolve" with time, but there is no need to pick up such nasty habbits (imo).
But this problem comes as much from mobilephones (if not more) then it does from computers.

[ik911]

Originally Posted by Xandax

(...) thinkning (...) forumlate (...) differnet .

This perfectly illustrates another con. (not picking on you, Xandax ) People tend to get lazy using the computer. Words get overlooked faster. In fact, all goes faster. Send messages fast, type a letter rapidly. The computer makes that possible, because when you typed something wrong, or if you want to reformulate a sentence, it's easy to edit. The downside is, that people get more accustomed to start writing things before they know how they exactly want to formulate what they want to say. This delete-culture could be a dangerous pattern, for instance during discussions. When people stop thinking ahead, they might find it hard to do their say and make their point in logical sentences and/or a cohorent story.

[Xandax]

Well - perhaps, but it could also be because it is a different language then the my national language as well.
I've never spelled very well, neither on danish nor english - but I spell a heck of a lot better when using the computer, even withouth spellchecking.

Also - you have to notice, that there is a different of worlds, in typing on an Intenet forum, then when typing up a report for your disertation or communicating with clients at work.

So whether or not that is a con, as you put it, is in the eye of the beholder, and needs to be viewed in the right context instead of pulled out of some Internet forum post.

If I had to write that piece in hand, I'd used at least twice as long time, discarded several drafts, and then submitted it. With computers I can instead focus on what I want to say, and try and formulate it as well - to the best of my abilities.
People doesn't get to be better spellers by writing in hand instead of via computers, looking up words in a dictonary instead of using a spellchecker. They dosen't become better at writing by doing it in hand.
The reason is that focus is shifting towards other skills in schools, not because of the "lazyness" of computers. Back in our days we spend time writing, practicing our letters et al, now a days kids learn other skills instead.
It isn't "easier" per se, it is simply different.

[giles337]

(0MPµ73R$ 274£¥ Ð0N7 4ƒ3(7 $P3|1N9 0R 9RMM4R

[Darth Zenemij]

Well I think that the children could be allowed to have such a thing like they do in canada if they have proven that they have mastered the English Language and they also have Mastered writting the English Language, Same goes for other Countries who don't speak engkish. But that In my point of view is just ridiculous, if he doesn't have at leats excelent Handwritting then he shouldn't even be allowed to have that laptop at school. But that is just my Opinion and point of View.

[frogus23]

LOL

Originally Posted by Darth Zenemij

Last edited by Darth Zenemij : Today at 03:21 PM. Reason: Spelling

Capital letters go at the beginning of sentences or proper nouns, FYI

[Darth Zenemij]

I just type capital letters in random, Along with when I write.

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by Darth Zenemij

<snip> But that In my point of view is just ridiculous, if he doesn't have at leats excelent Handwritting then he shouldn't even be allowed to have that laptop at school. But that is just my Opinion and point of View.

Why? - what do you base this view/opinion on?

[oozae]

Originally Posted by Darth Zenemij

But that In my point of view is just ridiculous, if he doesn't have at leats excelent Handwritting then he shouldn't even be allowed to have that laptop at school. But that is just my Opinion and point of View.

Why? If you have excellent writing, things are going to be easier for you when you write on paper. If Robert suffers a learning disability, than why should it be hell for him to write while the others don't have such problems?

[Aramant]

The main problem I have with the steadily increasing computer culture is that people are caring less and less about their horrendous spelling and grammar. I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from grammatically perfect, and I accept that there are widespread grammatical errors, such as prepositions at the end of a sentence, that get overlooked. However, when a person has the time to spend on making his typed words proper, I think he should.

I understand that in real-time instant messaging programs, one doesn't want to spend extra time on proof-reading what he types, but I'd like to think that the receiver would be understanding enough to not criticize the time the sender takes to type a message that doesn't consist of "lolomgwtf".

I have a person on my MSN contact list that's a chronically terrible speller. He uses the excuse that he has some kind of mental disability or some such that makes him unable to spell properly. He says he just types how the words sound in his head. I continued to question him on it, and on how he can sometimes spell words properly, but at other times butchers them nearly beyond recognition. He explained that when he reads over what he's typed or written, he can see his mistakes, and so on.

So my next question was, if he can see his mistakes, why doesn't he correct them? His actual response was that he didn't care enough to bother. Perhaps the problem isn't so much that the computer programs automatically correct a person's spelling, but rather that this correction makes the person too lazy to rely on his own intellect to type properly in the first place.

Oddly, a lot of the leetspeak and such requires more effort to type in than its original counterpart. Additionally, leetspeak words are often spelled properly, and I've seen examples of a person's misspelling of a leetspeak word criticized by others. So perhaps another problem, rather than people not caring enough to type properly, is that the computer culture has shifted the importance from being literate in proper grammar to being literate in the grammar of the internet subculture. And as a related problem, the fact that kids and teens are failing to see the difference between the two.

[Brynn]

Originally Posted by Xandax

Well - perhaps, but it could also be because it is a different language then the my national language as well.

You won't feed us you don't know how to spell those words properly It's just typing mistakes, happens to anyone.

Nah, spelling mistakes are not equal with typing mistakes. I often misspell a word b/c I change the letter order or hit the closest key instead - clearly, this doesn't happen in handwriting. I think if one calculated the ratio of his handwriting/typing, the result would be horrible...

I work with computers, I send emails, honestly, I barely take pen and paper to write down anything. Since I was brought up in a "normal", computerless school system, it's no problem for me, I won't forget how to write - but to "help" children with a laptop so that he wouldn't have to struggle with writing is a horrible idea, imo

[Brynn]

Originally Posted by oozae

Why? If you have excellent writing, things are going to be easier for you when you write on paper. If Robert suffers a learning disability, than why should it be hell for him to write while the others don't have such problems?

Because he'll never ever improve that way.