After a long summer break, I return somewhat rested with my pencils and books, and somewhat reluctant to take notes at my first class of high school. I walk into the building–high-tech modern school structure. As the instructor is about to start his discussion, my fellow students take out their laptop. In fact, everyone takes out their laptop–after a momentary pause, I hear a hundred instances of the Windows XP jingle as they boot up. Apparently, they need their laptop to “take notes”.
This above scenario of me several years ago seems to be all-too common lately. Generally speaking, none of us give it much thought, but what has happened to the notebook and paper?
Often times, the question of whether or not technology has had overbearing influences especially on younger people is asked. Certainly, it has played a very prominent role in life–growing up alongside technology has its influences. What especially opened my eyes was a Washington Post article about the fading art of writing that I wanted to take a close look at. Because of the prevalence of computers in our lives, students growing up have practically abandoned learning proper handwriting and educators have given up teaching it to its once-emphasized depth. The Washington Post cites one teacher who bought into this new place of handwriting. She teaches how to write in cursive to her most gifted students only for the sake of knowing it. “Cursive–that is so low on the priority list, we really could care less. We are much more concerned that these kids pass their [standardized tests], and that doesn’t require a bit of cursive.”
Just to put this in perspective, most institutions reserved one to two hours of time just for the use of handwriting in the late 1900’s. It was, in a sense, a completely separate component of class just as the leading handwriting curriculum producer Zaner-Bloser Handwriting planned for it to be. Now, with the advent of computers, penmanship and handwriting are simple ten minute exercises. To reflect that, Zaner-Bloser reduced their curriculum down to a fifteen minute daily lesson.
To be perfectly fair, why should it matter to students? Has the curriculum changed in such a way that they couldn’t continue to keep taking notes on their laptops? Like the teacher above mentioned, writing more legibly or in cursive is not thought to garner any extra points. Nothing should be lost from not being able to write, right?
No.
An important part of writing is being able to better learn a topic when you physically write the word on a pad of paper as opposed to typing it on a keyboard. It is more of a neurological process, the Washington Post notes. Most kids still use paper and colored pencil or paint to express feelings and thoughts. Most Poets still used paper and pencil to express their thoughts. It’s a better mode of expression and thinking. Written word is part of the person. What is on your monitor are simply words on a screen.
What I particularly found interesting was the increased depth of knowledge incurred from constantly writing. The Post’s writer, Presler, notes a study done by Vanderbilt University Professor Steve Graham on the correlation between writing and thought. In the experiment which involved first-grade kids who were otherwise stuck to the keyboard, Professor Graham received simple fifteen minute instruction three times a week. After several weeks, not only did their speed of writing increase two fold, but also, the kids expressed more “complex” thoughts and greater sentence construction awareness.
My Take:
Writing on a paper, though less so than personal interaction, sustains a level of personable authenticity that is otherwise missing in a typed message. If you’re writing to someone you actually care about, you don’t send them a typed message with a fancy letter-head–you write it by hand. Typing letter through a keyboard is very ordinary. In that sense, I always believe it’s important to write when you need to.
I guess I take the slight old-school approach on this issue. You need to have a half-decent handwriting, and you need to learn to write. Until not long ago, these were essential skills. I take notes on a notebook and paper. As a result, I remember more from writing. I’m also not on my laptop taking notes. For me, at least, it’s impossible to get by without pen and paper, especially with a history concentration. I learn from physically writing facts and concepts down.
The study by Professor Graham, in my mind, nailed it. Operating a keyboard and mouse limits the depth of thought put into the action. Each time you type a letter, you simply press a button. Every time you write a letter, you have to outline the letter with your pencil. You think about how the letter looks and how you have to move your hand to make the letter. If you misspelled something, you have to recognize it and correct it. In Microsoft Word, you simply use the infamous Spell Check.
To this end–is technology overbearing, especially for younger people? Technology has made life easier and for that, it’s definitely useful–pressing a key is easier than gripping a pencil. But when it caves into once-common practices and concepts, I feel it should take a back seat. What do you think? Please feel free to comment below.
