Comments on: Is handwriting dead?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:42:00 +0000

I’m interested in natural user interfaces in the area of electronic documents. Slate-PCs (slim tablets like the iPad) are on the rise and many of them offering handwriting recognition for taking notes. I agree that written symbols are here to stay but I wonder if we really shouldn’t be teaching some form of shorthand. If the main use for handwriting now is taking notes, would this not be a more efficient form of written communication? I wrote a blog post this subject here: http://blog.globalgraphics.com/gdoc/

By: Chris S

Chris S — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:14:17 +0000

Handwriting is a skill. Everyone develops their own style. Of course there is the slight gripe that we educate children to write in cursive script at around Year 2/3 and becoming more legible the older they become. Of course I do wonder what script they have to learn from… the teacher on the board…. and… well where else? Books in print are -> PRINTED <- so the only example are in the handwriting text books.
We write cursively as it is faster!! I would settle for slightly slower, but printed neatly with correct spelling and real content.

By: Audrey

Audrey — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:27:01 +0000

I believe in a balanced approach. I’m not fond of the attitude that technology replaces. I prefer the approach that technology enhances. Therefore, the ability to type or text message doesn’t mean there is no reason for people to know how to write legibly.

It’s a skill that should be taught. It’s a good vehicle for building manual dexterity, it’s a skill that will come in handy in multiple places over a lifetime and it indicates a level of self respect and mindfulness about one’s work that is often absent in American public schools.

I agree that video game use needs to be balanced with other activities… outside play, sports, dance, etc. Our children shouldn’t be raised to ignore their bodies as merely useful vehicles for dragging their heads and thumbs around.

By: Miss Profe

Miss Profe — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:28:54 +0000

As the child of a mother who stressed the importance of neat, cursive handwriting, and who lamented the demise of my elder brother’s cursive when we moved from the city to the suburbs – the teachers at that inner city elementary school placed as great a premium on handwriting as my mother – I believe it is a lost art form, and is as much a part of one’s presentation to the world as any thing else. Given that so many kids have turned up with ineffectual motor dexterity these days, parents are choosing not to fight that battle. As a teacher who must read the handwriting of these students, I wished that somebody had placed a higher priority on it.

By: F. Hamre

F. Hamre — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:28:30 +0000

I am in a somehow different situation. I teach science and chemistry in Norway, and my pupils (age 16-19) all have a laptop computer for use at school. One each. And access to a wireless network.
The problem is that if I allow them to use their computer for tests (and I'd love to – some of their handwriting is almost impossible to interpret), they have access to at least all their notes. That is if everything works as it is supposed to and I manage to close their network access. If that doesn't work properly, they also have access to internet og at least MSN messenger (which often seems to sneak around the closed access somehow).

An ideal situation in class would be if I could prevent any communication, and only have the sites I decide accessible. Also for testing. If they have taken time to make useful notes, they should be able to use them. Written exams in many subjects in Norway are now "open-book" – both books and computers are allowed, but no communication. This makes it really hard to make good assignments and excercises, and I am not quite there yet (only in my second year of teaching).

So the handwriting is still crucial for the pupils work, since they do their tests on paper (at least in my classes).

I passed the limit a few years back where I now type faster on the computer (about 430 correct strokes/minute) than I can write by hand. My handwriting is quite nice, but gradually getting worse, and slower, since I don't practice it as much anymore. Dead? No. But used soooo much less!! And still a bit more personal than typed letters, even if the content is the same.

By: Lisa Stevens

Lisa Stevens — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:43:57 +0000

I’ve got quite neat, easy to read handwriting, honed by the need for my writing to be legible on whiteboards. However, I’ve recently had to change the way I write as the school at which I teach two days a week favours cursive handwriting and all staff have to model it. Couldn’t see the point myself when there’s nothing wrong with the way I write but I’ve tried hard!
I’d agree about the use of computers etc – once you can type at speed, it’s so much easier to type – and much more legible, even if you do have lovely handwriting. Only problem I find is that I make far more spelling mistakes when typing than when I write- but I guess that would underline what we always tell kids in exams. – read your work at the end for mistakes!

By: Penelope Millar

Penelope Millar — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:28:40 +0000

I just said cursive is dead, you’ve taken it a bit further.

I’m a lefty with arthritis, so I am all about things that make me have to write by hand less. I never had good handwriting, even when I wrote by hand constantly.

The thing about how video games is somehow worse for handwriting skills than doing handstands against the wall (btw, I never did those for fun, even before video games) makes no sense. If anything, video games are going to *improve* your hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Basically, I agree.