How important actually is learning to write?

[grassisjeweled]

I mean, actual handwriting? Especially in this day and age, computers, screens, typing, etc etc.

Just pondering as DS is learning to write at school and obviously the teacher is insisting his handwriting is neater. Which I get. My handwriting was terrible and never got any better BUT that was 1988 and I can understand why they insisted it was better. But nowadays?

Why is it so important?

I work in a hospital and we still use paper notes. Sometimes I can’t read what has been written by other healthcare professionals. Could potentially lead to mistakes...

It always makes me laugh that as an adult people always comment that i have neat writing.

As a kid i was told my handwriting was illegible, that it would hold me back. I still wrote in pencil in year 5 because i wasnt allowed to "graduate" to pen, Back in the days when you had to get a certificate to move up!

I think the physical act of writing helps you learn information.

If you asked me how to spell certain tricky words, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Yet, if I pick up a pen, my hand will usually write the word correctly. Weird or what?

All through school, A levels and uni he will write notes by hand. Revision doesn't work the same on a computer as writing it all down. Also, some essays are handwritten in school.

Exams at uni are handwritten in many subjects and I know people who had issues with having their exams graded as markers couldn't read what they had written.

So to an extent, very important.

Very. I am saying this as a dyslexic who has messy writing. Writing info def helps to absorb it. and cattenberg def same with spelling. if I write it I can often see it is wrong but spelling out loud is tough. And yes do still use writing at work.

Do what my mum did, in the 2000s, and make him write out pages of books in the evening. Just a page or two every other evening.

It helped me and I now have very nice writing, if a bit too swirly.

Oh and when I was talking about uni exams, I graduated 2017... so it's recent

Really @grassisjeweled ?! 🥴

Exams. GCSEs and A Levels are still handwritten (I think). If you've ever marked exam scripts, the effort required to mark illegible scripts is huge. It's not in your interests to produce something that is hard to read.

It's also about speed. Under exam conditions it does make a difference, being able to write twice as much. But often speed means sacrificing legibility. If your starting point isn't great, then your legibility will tip over to illegible.

That said, I remember being told through primary school that my secondary school teachers wouldn't accept my crappy handwriting. In secondary school no one mentioned it again, so perhaps it is overblown in primary schools.

cattenberg spelling is a visual process rather than a skill based on sound so it makes total sense.

Ds has dysgraphia. Even he can’t read his handwriting.

He is just grateful that everything is done on computer.

GCSEs and A Levels are handwritten.
If they go into sciences, lab books etc are hand written
In NHS a lot of notes still handwritten
If teaching or lecturing or any sort of training role in any profession - you'll be expected to write on white boards, flip charts etc
Lots of jobs will still have meetings where things are drawn together during the meeting on white boards etc
Birthday / Christmas / sympathy / get well / any other occasion cards and letters
Lists - including the shopping list
Filling in forms - I still regularly have to complete forms by hand

Plus, as others have said, a lot of people need the physical movement of their hand to help either remember facts (revision) or how to spell

GCSEs and A Levels are handwritten

Ds had a computer during his exams

Doing maths (I don't mean arithmetic) , and other things requiring special symbols and notation is a total pain on computers rather than writing.

Writing quickly and legibly is essential for note-taking. Using a PC to take notes is correlated with poorer comprehension and retention, for a number of reasons.

Having writing that looks attractive and presentable can be a big motivator for kids. If kids scrawl away at a page and it ends up looking like shit, they can't feel proud of their work--it's frustrating for them.

GCSE and A Level are handwritten unless typing is their normal way of working, which means lugging a laptop around school all day and using it in lessons, plus the risk of it getting smashed when your child dumps their bag on the floor at breaktime. It's only really for exceptionally poor handwriting.
The vast majority of students handwrite exams and that's unlikely to change within the next 10 years or so due to the cost of providing laptops.

But if you physically typed out information on a computer, would it help you learn it the same way that writing it down does?

I realise the importance of it, but I think there'll be a massive shift away from it. I remember writing out literally pages and pages of joined up writing and tbh I rarely hand write stuff today. By the time DS is at uni (10 years at least) I have no doubt that everything will be computer based.

Ds had a computer during his exams

Yes, and my ds had a scribe after he got run over, but I think it was fairly clear to most people that we are talking about typically and not 'the exceptions to the rule' for whom the school have to apply for specific exemptions.

theconversation.com/note-taking-by-hand-a-powerful-tool-to-support-memory-144049

The evidence is actually pretty consistent on this one. Notes are not about physically putting the contents of a lecture on paper--if you want that, most lecturers already provide physical hand-outs or you can use a textbook etc.

The point of note-taking is to help you organize and store the information in your memory, by summarizing information into chunks and slogans, using arrows and physical placing of information to show how one thing connects to another thing, and so on.

People using keyboards just end up writing everything out on the page, which is not helpful at all.

There's a lot of research that physical handwriting improves absorption, storage and retention of information and helps the brain develop to understand certain concepts and develop certain aptitudes

Its being noticed by educators and psychologists that children who write less and type more are struggling in certain areas, not just English, but it particularly helps with developing the neural pathways that lead to better reading skills and I don't just mean reading as in the physical act but comprehension etc.

It's all tied in with general language acquisition

On a practical/real world level many exams STILL are hand written and if the examiner cannot read their writing they will lose marks however well they know the subject.

I'm a fast typist when I'm at my optimum around 110 wpm but I still find hand writing generally faster and more accurate when I'm making notes while listening to someone speak - a key skill in post compulsory education as it's not just a case of writing what a lecturer is saying but quickly noting a train of thought or something you wish to look up later before the idea escapes you.

But if you physically typed out information on a computer, would it help you learn it the same way that writing it down does?

No it doesn't at all - tons of research on this

It's why there's loads of money being put into improving what's called "handwritten text recognition" or HTR because the tech companies have had to accept that we NEED to write certain things by hand. That it's not just about signing for deliveries and similar, but everyday usage.

We haven't yet got good quality reliable HTR as knowledge of and understanding of handwriting is deeply complex and requires almost a level of artificial intelligence.

Not to mention the language barriers across not only the tech but the developers and programmers themselves as those with different languages have learned them in different ways and have different understandings re language acquisition and usage. It's deeply cultural and varies widely

But even at a simple level look at how even when we type the tech companies haven't even properly solved the autocorrect and American/Australian/british english conflicts! I still get annoyed when a perfectly acceptable word or phrase when typed on something electronic is flagged as incorrect as it goes against eg American English spag rules.

It's fascinating as a subject area though.

Very important! For many reasons. An incomplete list below:

1. Basic Communication - whether it is a shopping list or hospital notes. People need to be able to read what is written and we can’t always use computers.

1. Practical purposes - Legible writing at a reasonable pace is still critical. Take exams, for example. Yes, we are moving towards computerised systems but tech fails. Often. We need a reasonable and reliable back up. That is true for presentations as well - both in classrooms and offices.

1. Cognitive benefits - writing aids memory and cognition. That is not replicated in typing.

1. Neural plasticity - this has been linked to language acquisition and handwriting forms part of that. Again, typing does not have the same effect.

1. Fine motor skills - handling a pen and pencil teaches and improves dexterity and fine motor skills. Think about using sewing needles, precision screwdrivers etc.

1. Art and beauty - good penmanship can be an art form. This is true across cultures.

I’m sure other people can add more.

Please encourage your son to persevere. I had appalling handwriting as a child. As an adult, I have taught literacy and handwriting. I get such a kick out of people complementing my (sometimes) beautiful (and frequently scrappy) handwriting now.

My handwriting is and always has been shocking. Primary school teachers nagged and pushed and encouraged neatness, to no avail.
Academically, this hasn't been an issue since secondary school (and I am old enough to have handwritten everything and not had a computer until university). Straight A student and Oxbridge.
Professionally, also fine. I learned to touch type, fast, at secondary school. I scribble a lot of notes and lists and diagrams but they don't need to look nice. In meetings, illegible handwriting that nobody else can read over your shoulder or across the table, can be handy :-)
I occasionally look at something like the handwritten letters my grandma wrote in a beautiful, even, flowing hand and think, wow, wish I could do that. But in much the same way that I might look at a drawing or a painting, or listen to a choir and wish I could sing.
Beautiful handwriting is a lovely thing to see, but I don't think it's essential. Functional handwriting, on the other hand, is, to take notes and aid memory.

Muscle memory is very important in acquisition of spelling skills.

I think it's very important. I'm a nurse and depending on the ward, some use paper notes, some use computerised systems. However there have been times where, in the wards that use handwritten notes, there are things that I have almost missed, important things, due to a previous clinicians poor, almost illegible handwriting. This could have had a serious impact on patient care. Computer systems also go down, and there are times where in wards rely on everything being done on the computer, have had to revert back to paper files.

So yes, being able to record on paper is important and clear handwriting is also important.

When was in hospital having dd the doctors handwriting on my notes was so bad they were handed around the ward so people could help make sense of them.