Should Handwriting be Taught in School?

[aceluby]

Yes, we should absolutely be teaching it. Cursive as well. Everyone needs to be able to communicate effectively with just a pen and paper.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Karradin,

How can you earn a degree if there are no examinations of the knowledege you have learned?

[Raja]

I personally do not take notes on my laptop as I'm easily distracted and having the laptop open in front of me will only add to that. Conversely, most of my friends use the laptop because it's faster ( for them, not everyone) and they do fine. This is possibly because when you're learning the material, you're usually doing some sort of writing, well, at least in my course, that's what people do.

Lot's of very important exams are only done on computer screens now, though that's probably because it's much easier to correct them that way and the fact that they're multiple choice questions.

The unfortunate cliche with doctors, in my experience seems fairly spot on. Flipping through a patient's file which someone else has filled out can be very frustrating as most of the time you have zero idea about what's written. It's also not the fact that cursive writing is used, even whilst using print, the handwriting can be rather awful.

[karaddin]

Karradin,

How can you earn a degree if there are no examinations of the knowledege you have learned?

Err is this a different names for things in the US thing? Exams are short time limited exercises, for example 2 essays and 5 short answer questions in 2 hours. They are far from the only way to assess the knowledge and skills that you have learned, and at least according to what I've read increasingly seen as a poor test of this.

[Ormond]

Of course those who have medical problems that make handwriting difficult should be allowed to record information (and take exams) in other ways. In the United States, there is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to make reasonable accommodations for this (and any other handicap.) One does have to go through the office at one's university that deals with disability issues to get these accommodations -- individual professors aren't supposed to be making these decisions by themselves.

I'd like to agree with Shryke that learning how to write cursive is very helpful for learning how to READ cursive. That's really important when looking at historical documents like census records, which at least up through 1940 in the USA were all handwritten.

In terms of exams, I only have one course that I teach where there are in-class exams that include essays. All my other grading is either of purely multiple-choice exams, or of take home essay exams and term papers which these days are always typed. (I actually wouldn't require these to be typed if a student does have legible handwriting, but it's been at least a decade since I've had a student who turned in such an assignment handwritten.) But I still want students who don't have a disability to take handwritten notes for themselves in class.

[sologdin]

likely that we should cut mathematics from school curricula because a $5 wristwatch can do it, amirite?

[Prue]

Why should schools unneccessarily lower the standards in primary school? Most children don't have extreme problems learning cursive. I remember I was proud when I was able to write 'properly' like an adult. I would have found it offensive to only be taught a simplified printed version instead, just to make it 'easier' for me. And cursive has the additional benefit of being prettier and faster. The simplified joint-up printed letter writing has been introduced in many regions here though. Alas.

[Clueless Northman]

Most of the time, I suppose, people write on keyboard and don't need to handwrite stuff down. Still, it's foolish to expect them to never ever have to write anything by hand, and they should be prepared to be able to handwrite when this moment comes, otherwise, they're as good as illiterate in such a situation.

And totally forgetting handwriting is risky; it's taking as granted our current society and civilization, as if there's no risk of some major calamity and of large swathes of population having to do without computers.

[lady narcissa]

I do think handwriting should continue to be taught in schools. I can envision all sorts of less than ideal circumstances where typing on a computer might not be an option and knowing how to hand write would be critical. Even in my own day to day life I sometimes encounter circumstances where typing is not an option and I have to hand write. And its a privilege to have access to computers which allow one to type...not everyone in this world has that option. Even in my own city there are people who can't afford computers and classrooms that don't have enough for everyone. Is a school supposed to differentiate between those who can afford computers at home for assignments and those who can't?

But along with handwriting I think typing should be taught in schools. I see so many people pecking away with their two fingers seemingly unaware of how to place and use all fingers on a keyboard. When I was in school it was taught in high school but I think it should be part of the grade school curriculum now if it isn't.

[deleted01]

It's worth noting that American cursive is a bit different from the British. I remember being taught a bit of the American cursive style when I lived there. It's incredibly florid and at the time (5th grade) seemed very alien to my British handwriting sensibilities. I think a lot of the problems stemmed from having to join up the capital letters to the rest of the word - doing this seemed to mean you had to learn a whole new set of characters for the first letters of the word. In British handwriting (at least the way I was taught), capital letters are printed separately, so there's only half the letters to learn.

The impression I get is that in the US cursive is accorded more prestige/social weight than in the UK. Over here I am unaware of there being much distinction made between a letter/note written printed vs. joined-up, whereas it sounds like there is much more made of the difference on the other side of the pond (at least in certain circles).

ST

Whenever I see the word "printed", I always think of block capitals. That's what I've always known what it meant "to print". Like yourself, I learned joined-up writing at some point in school, but it was never a big deal. Having neat handwriting was the goal.

Now I write in a hybrid kind of style. Some letters are joined up, some aren't. My handwriting is still nice, except for when taking quick notes that only I need to decipher.

While I believe that typing has made things a lot easier for many people, I still stand by the importance of having legible handwriting. Before I taught my SO, the writing in my cards etc. was terrible. He was embarassed, but had never been taught how to form letters properly. I think this is still really important for children to learn, as we haven't gone totally digital just yet, and being able to write legibly is a necessary skill, imho. Eta: The comparison to the calculator was a good one. I have trouble with numbers, and while I do use a calculator quite often, I still try to work it out myself first.

[Angalin]

Children certainly need to be taught how to write well enough so that they can take notes in a class and can at least read them themselves later on!

There has been recent research that's found that college students who take handwritten notes do better on tests than those who take notes on a laptop. And this isn't just because of distractions caused by having Facebook or email also active while one is trying to take notes -- the research specifically used computers that were disconnected from the Internet.

Instead, handwriting notes in class requires more in depth cognitive processing, which promotes memory and deeper conceptual understanding, than does typing notes, which tends to lead to verbatim transcriptions of the lecture or discussion which are actually more "mindless" even though they contain more words:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/

So if you really want to understand something, it's better to write in longhand than to type -- so learning how to write is still a very valuable skill.

I thought of this study too, Ormond. My own experience has been that it's much harder to engage with the content on a screen than it is on paper. Plus you can't doodle on a screen, not even in the margins. ;)

My diary (both personal and work) is a hard copy. Always will be.

Me too, and not only because I constantly mislay my phone.

[Angalin]

I do think handwriting should continue to be taught in schools. I can envision all sorts of less than ideal circumstances where typing on a computer might not be an option and knowing how to hand write would be critical. Even in my own day to day life I sometimes encounter circumstances where typing is not an option and I have to hand write. And its a privilege to have access to computers which allow one to type...not everyone in this world has that option. Even in my own city there are people who can't afford computers and classrooms that don't have enough for everyone. Is a school supposed to differentiate between those who can afford computers at home for assignments and those who can't?

But along with handwriting I think typing should be taught in schools. I see so many people pecking away with their two fingers seemingly unaware of how to place and use all fingers on a keyboard. When I was in school it was taught in high school but I think it should be part of the grade school curriculum now if it isn't.

I agree with all of this. Most schools don't have enough computers for all the students; some schools are hard-pressed to supply books or other basics. (Yes, books are basics: if you are in an area without reliable or even any electricity, an e-reader is beyond luxurious.)

[lessthanluke]

Yes. I very rarely took my laptop to lectures in uni. All my notes were handwritten.

[lady narcissa]

if you are in an area without reliable or even any electricity, an e-reader is beyond luxurious.)

This reminds me of a story Bill Gates told in his Standard commencement address this year. He talked about supplying computers to a community center in a village in Mexico and going for the opening ceremony and noticing the generator that had been brought in to supply electricity for the center for the ceremony. And he realized as soon as he left the generator would be taken away and the computers would not work. And that was one of the events that helped shift his charity efforts towards health issues.

[Which Tyler]

Brook,

Taking notes in block print is pretty difficult in an environment were smart phones and laptops are not allowed, like some courts (or for people who can't afford laptops or smart phones). Cursive is a much faster script.

Simply not true I'm afraid. I was taught joined-up hand writing; but could never write it legibly with any pace whatsoever; TBH, if I want anyone other than myself to be able to read my handwriting, it needs to be block capitals. I write in block capitals much faster than I can write joined-up, regardless of legibility.

I strongly suspect that whatever style of writing you use most frequently will be the quickest for you; so those who value joined-up writing, and write almost exclusively that way will be quicker - those who don't, won't.

Medical handwriting is an absolute joke; by being illegible, it means that if you're ever sued, you can claim that those notes say whatever you want them to have said - and no-one can gainsay you!

[The Notorious]

Cursive is great if you're the only reading it. Sorry to bust the cursive-fans bubble but your handwriting are incomprehensible to most readers.

Best to teach the kids to write legibly in block print.

[Wise Fool]

Nah, we have computers and typing for that. They needn't waste time teaching either cursive or regular handwriting. Come to think of it, even typing is a bit iffy, because voice recognition. Really, the only thing children need to learn is how to look at a screen and select one of several big colorful buttons to place an order for a cheeseburger.

[Prue]

Ha exactly. ;) Well, when I was at uni, most people still wrote notes by hand fortunately. Tbh, the guys sitting there typing on their laptops during a lecture were quite distracting/irritating. Even if the keyboard doesn't go 'clickety-click', it's not soundless.

[Sci-2]

Thank God for Ormond, bringing up studies rather than wistful hungers as arguments. (I include my own hungers in that criticism)

Ormond for President 2016!

[Crazydog7]

No one thought it was worth the effort to teach a disabled child cursive. Its something that has always pissed me off.

However it is 25 years later and there is probably an app for it and everything.