Today’s digital reality is that typing, tapping and screen time are a large part of children’s and adolescents’ everyday lives. Results from several studies have revealed that both children and adults learn more and remember better if writing by hand.
Professor Audrey van der Meer at NTNU believes that national guidelines should be put into place make certain that children get at least a minimum of handwriting training.
Now another study affirms the same: picking handwriting over keyboard use yields the best learning and memory.
Van der Meer and her colleagues have investigated this many times, first in 2017 and currently in 2020.
In 2017, she examined the brain activity of 20 students. She’s now published a study in which she examined brain activity in twelve young adults and twelve children.
This is the first time that children have participated in such a research.
The two studies were conducted using an EEG to monitor and document brain wave action. The participants wore a hood with over 250 electrodes attached.
The brain generates electrical impulses when it is active. The detectors in the electrodes are extremely sensitive and pick up the electric action that occurs in the mind.
Each evaluation took 45 minutes each individual, and the investigators obtained 500 data points per second.
“The use of pen and paper gives the brain more ‘hooks’ to hang your memories on. Writing by hand creates much more activity in the sensorimotor parts of the brain. A lot of senses are activated by pressing the pen on paper, seeing the letters you write and hearing the sound you make while writing. These sense experiences create contact between different parts of the brain and open the brain up for learning. We both learn better and remember better,” says Van der Meer.
She believes that her own and others’ studies emphasize the importance of children being challenged to draw and write at an early age, particularly at school.
A survey of 19 countries from the EU reveals that hyperactive kids and teens spend the most time on the web. The smartphone is a constant companion, followed closely by the PC and tablets.
The survey shows that kids ages 9 to 16 spend almost four hours on the internet daily, double the sum since 2010.
Children’ leisure time in front of a display is currently amplified by educators increasing focus on electronic learning.
Van der Meer believes digital instruction has many positive aspects, but urges handwriting training.
“Given the development of the last several years, we risk having one or more generations lose the ability to write by hand. Our research and that of others show that this would be a very unfortunate consequence” of increased digital activity, says Meer.
She believes that national guidelines must be put in place that ensure children receive at least a minimum of training.
From the discussion about handwriting or keyboard use in college, a few teachers think that keyboards produce less frustration for kids. They point out that kids can write longer texts and are more inspired to write because they encounter greater command with a computer keyboard.
“Learning to write by hand is a bit slower process, but it’s important for children to go through the tiring phase of learning to write by hand. The intricate hand movements and the shaping of letters are beneficial in several ways. If you use a keyboard, you use the same movement for each letter. Writing by hand requires control of your fine motor skills and senses. It’s important to put the brain in a learning state as often as possible. I would use a keyboard to write an essay, but I’d take notes by hand during a lecture,” says Van der Meer.
“The brain has evolved over thousands of years. It has evolved to be able to take action and navigate appropriate behavior. In order for the brain to develop in the best possible way, we need to use it for what it’s best at. We need to live an authentic life. We have to use all our senses, be outside, experience all kinds of weather and meet other people. If we don’t challenge our brain, it can’t reach its full potential. And that can impact school performance,” says Van der Meer.