Space Lynx
Astronaut
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2014
- Messages
- 16,000 (4.60/day)
- Location
- Kepler-186f
First off, hopefully @W1zzard and mods don't get mad at me for using TechPowerDown, I just thought it would be a fun/silly play on words for this thread, if its an issue feel free to edit it out.
So, I have thought about this for a while now, there is more than one study showing that memory retention improves with the physical act of writing, take for example this study out of the University of Tokyo which cites the usage of the senses in the writing process.
A study of Japanese university students and recent graduates has revealed that writing on physical paper can lead to more brain activity when remembering the information an hour later. Researchers say that the unique, complex, spatial and tactile information associated with writing by hand on physical paper is likely what leads to improved memory.
My own experiences also contribute to this conclusion. For example, I feel I excelled at math so well in 9th and 10th grade because my teacher never used technology, not even once. She made us all use dry erase boards (individually passed out at beginning of class) and the markers always had fruity smells too. So I was utilizing an extra sense/reward mechanism when doing algebraic problems. I was often the first in my class done in math, but I honestly credit having great teachers like her. The reason I mention this is that most schools seem to be going faster than a bullet train on moving to no writing at all. My local school system all uses macbooks/ipads K-12. ipads K-5 and macbooks 6-12 grades. Neighboring towns all the students only have chromebooks, and so on and so forth. I also remember some teachers using "projectors" this was a very unique interaction a student would have when coming to front of the class to solve a problem for the class, it utilized multiple sensory inputs, the lights were dimmed (gave me confidence when going up in front of the class cause well a lot of kids have anxiety here), again a marker and physical handwriting were used, and so on and so forth.
Now as I observe the classroom with advanced technology, it is no secret that the memory of kids has diminished immensely from previous generations. Some might blame social media apps, the internet, etc. Those may or may not be a part of that, but that is not for this discussion, for this discussion I think not only are those studies correct regarding physical handwriting, I believe they can be expanded upon by using fruity scented markers/dry erase boards/encourage more notetaking, etc. Worried about ChatGPT? Easy go back to the classy days of assigning essays that had to be done in class, I had to do that all the time in my college days, handwritten essays... and guess what, those are the only classes I actually remember stuff from.
We are doing the younger generations a disservice by constantly shoving technology in their face, and I believe this is a huge mistake. Looking forward to reading others thoughts on this matter, I am open to change if someone can convince me otherwise.
So, I have thought about this for a while now, there is more than one study showing that memory retention improves with the physical act of writing, take for example this study out of the University of Tokyo which cites the usage of the senses in the writing process.
Study shows stronger brain activity after writing on paper than on tablet or smartphone
A study of university students and recent graduates has revealed that writing on physical paper can lead to more brain activity when remembering the information an hour later. Researchers say that the unique, complex, spatial and tactile information associated with writing by hand on physical...
www.sciencedaily.com
A study of Japanese university students and recent graduates has revealed that writing on physical paper can lead to more brain activity when remembering the information an hour later. Researchers say that the unique, complex, spatial and tactile information associated with writing by hand on physical paper is likely what leads to improved memory.
My own experiences also contribute to this conclusion. For example, I feel I excelled at math so well in 9th and 10th grade because my teacher never used technology, not even once. She made us all use dry erase boards (individually passed out at beginning of class) and the markers always had fruity smells too. So I was utilizing an extra sense/reward mechanism when doing algebraic problems. I was often the first in my class done in math, but I honestly credit having great teachers like her. The reason I mention this is that most schools seem to be going faster than a bullet train on moving to no writing at all. My local school system all uses macbooks/ipads K-12. ipads K-5 and macbooks 6-12 grades. Neighboring towns all the students only have chromebooks, and so on and so forth. I also remember some teachers using "projectors" this was a very unique interaction a student would have when coming to front of the class to solve a problem for the class, it utilized multiple sensory inputs, the lights were dimmed (gave me confidence when going up in front of the class cause well a lot of kids have anxiety here), again a marker and physical handwriting were used, and so on and so forth.
Now as I observe the classroom with advanced technology, it is no secret that the memory of kids has diminished immensely from previous generations. Some might blame social media apps, the internet, etc. Those may or may not be a part of that, but that is not for this discussion, for this discussion I think not only are those studies correct regarding physical handwriting, I believe they can be expanded upon by using fruity scented markers/dry erase boards/encourage more notetaking, etc. Worried about ChatGPT? Easy go back to the classy days of assigning essays that had to be done in class, I had to do that all the time in my college days, handwritten essays... and guess what, those are the only classes I actually remember stuff from.
We are doing the younger generations a disservice by constantly shoving technology in their face, and I believe this is a huge mistake. Looking forward to reading others thoughts on this matter, I am open to change if someone can convince me otherwise.
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