Handwriting vs MacBooks/ChromeBooks/Smartscreens in the Classroom

[Space Lynx]

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.

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.

 

[Selaya]

yes

...

but just throwing tablets at students is easier tho
path of least resistance yadda dadda

 

[R-T-B]

This may be unique to me, but teachers beat there heads against the wall for years trying to get me to write with motor difficulties. After nearly a decade of barely managing just ALL CAPS handwriting, They finally let me have a laptop. It was the best day of my life.

 

[Space Lynx]

yes

...

but just throwing tablets at students is easier tho
path of least resistance yadda dadda

This does seem to be the conclusion I have observed as well. I don't know if it's just out of laziness, if administrators signed a big payday with major corporations; there are strange sales people involved in the way the education system works I have noticed.

This may be unique to me, but teachers beat there heads against the wall for years trying to get me to write with motor difficulties. After years of barely managing just ALL CAPS handwriting, They finally let me have a laptop. It was the best day of my life.

It is true everyone learns differently, I would say in your case that is a mild disability and much needed for you to have. That is not what I am arguing here, in fact I would argue there should be some kids like yourself, who would have that tablet/laptop. Or you know that kid that had dyslexia, guess what, they would have a kindle paperwhite scribe (they would still get benefit of physical handwriting too cause the kindle scribe allows for handwriting and auto transcribe to dyslexic font) because it is easy on the eyes and the dyslexic font on that really does work amazingly well!

I have a mild disability too, autism, and if teachers had placed me in say the corner of the back of the classroom vs the front row I might have thrived more in those specific classes.

Nuance is key to everything here my friend, I do not forget about you, I do not forget about me, but I mean these observations in a general sense.

 

[R-T-B]

I have a mild disability too, autism,

Is it high functioning by chance? If so I am in the same family, Aspergers Syndrome they called it when I was diagnosed in the 90s. I got hit with the special stick when god/whatever made me, I swear, but you know what? That's alright.

 

[Selaya]

This does seem to be the conclusion I have observed as well. I don't know if it's just out of laziness, if administrators signed a big payday with major corporations; there are strange sales people involved in the way the education system works I have noticed.

[ ... ]

i said easier; being a corrupt piece of shit's just business as usual; standing up against those corrupt megacorps might endanger your job and possibly life!

 

[Space Lynx]

Is it high functioning by chance? If so I am in the same family, Aspergers Syndrome they called it when I was diagnosed in the 90s. I got hit with the special stick when god/whatever made me, I swear, but you know what? That's alright.

I don't want to go off-topic this early in the thread and upset the mods, but I am sorry that happened to you mate. I never went to a school like that. Autism people also have stimming behavior, I used to "play the piano" ( i did so while making no noise and not disturbing anyone) on my desk with my eyes closed because the anxiety of being around so many people, but my teacher called me out on it and made fun of it... so I stopped my stimming behavior. Then I proceeded to shut down and fail all my classes because I no longer had my escape, before this I was an all A/B student in advanced classes, then I went to an all F student.

Our system failed us, and it is failing other students in various ways, which is a reason I made this topic, to see if technology plays a role in the memory retention process or not, or are these studies indeed more correct than they even realize?

 

[R-T-B]

I don't want to go off-topic this early in the thread and upset the mods, but I am sorry that happened to you mate.

Oh no not literally thank goodness. I meant it as a metaphor for when god/the divine creator makes something, lol. I thankfully was never hit at school, would've messed my situation up even more.

 

[joemama]

Though writing on paper might create deeper memory, the main purpose of notes is for you to look up information written within, which is easier for digital notes. You wouldn't remember on which page you've written certain info after longer periods but with digital notes, you could just search with the software.

 

[Space Lynx]

Though writing on paper might create deeper memory, the main purpose of notes is for you to look up information written within, which is easier for digital notes. You wouldn't remember on which page you've written certain info after longer periods but with digital notes, you could just search with the software.

This is a fair point. I'm not sure they are taking notes this way in the classrooms my niece takes though (she has a macbook and I had her explain some of it to me)

@joemama

From the article: "Actually, paper is more advanced and useful compared to electronic documents because paper contains more one-of-a-kind information for stronger memory recall," said Professor Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, a neuroscientist at the University of Tokyo

I am not sure what the Professor means here by "more-one-of-a-kind information"

 

[the54thvoid]

The initial paper you quoted is more interesting to me than most of what has been discussed. The use of a pen/pencil/stylus to record information is a physical skill. Writing requires motor memory and hand-eye co-ordination. Tracking the nib of the device and using learnt skills to create form is a complex action that requires a lot of brain function. Hitting a keyboard key, or tapping a screen to create a sentence is far simpler and requires less mental effort. However, a stylus used to write on a smart tablet is the same as writing, I'd imagine.

But as has been mentioned, for those with cannot write due to impairment or disability, tapping a screen or a button is a great advancement toward levelling access to education.

 

[Space Lynx]

However, a stylus used to write on a smart tablet is the same as writing, I'd imagine.

I would agree with that certainly, much like the dry erase board example I give, or the Kindle Scribe example. It doesn't necessarily have to be paper, the study seems to think paper is best for some reason, but I am not convinced on that matter.

I think there is a problem with the ecosystem, the ecosystem I have observed locally is that EVERYTHING is now technology. Literally. There are no dry erase boards, no interactive projectors, there are no chalkboards; there are only several thousand dollar SmartBoards in their place. I noticed that kids memories seems to be quite horrible lately, and I wonder if there is a direct correlation.

If we go back to the generation before us, take my Grandmother for example, who had an even better memory than me. She cited by verse pslams and the Rosary daily for 50-60 years, and when I asked her how she learned that she said as a kid they had to write it down over and over by hand. Religion aside, I can't even recall a single passage that long (20 minutes length usually to say the Rosary for example) by memory for great philosophers that I have read several times.

I wonder if I disciplined myself enough, if I could by any chance perform this feat by handwriting it over and over, but then again maybe this technique only works as a kid? I suppose I could try it and report back. Logically, I think there would be some gains regardless of age.

So if I type the same passage 20x over, would I memorize it as quickly vs saying handwriting it out 10x over... that could be a fun experiment indeed, is there a ratio to be found there... hmm (it will vary individually of course, but there still might be something to this in a general sense)

 

[joemama]

I am not sure what the Professor means here by "more-one-of-a-kind information"

Probably because everything hand written is unique, your brain will remenber not only the written information but also how it was written. Hand writing can be unique in a lot of ways like the style of the writing, the position, the alignment and a lot more, so our brain would have a more vivid memory of the wirtten things.

 

[Space Lynx]

Probably because everything hand written is unique, your brain will remenber not only the written information but also how it was written. Hand writing can be unique in a lot of ways like the style of the writing, the position, the alignment and a lot more, so our brain would have a more vivid memory of the wirtten things.

This makes much more sense now, thanks for that clarity... I was really stuck what the professor meant by that lol

This is another very interesting take on it for sure. I remember my classmates color coding with various colors, the girls especially seemed to really engage in learning more with the "gel pen colors" specifically I remember the gel pens actively encouraging note taking... there is so much nuance to this topic... technology has changed so much... even taken some of the joy out of learning for some I imagine.