http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7274694n
I found this clip from CBS about handwriting and its pertinence in today's society. It's fairly interesting, though I think that most telling part comes at the very end when the fourth graders (I believe they're fourth graders) comment on the practicality of writing by hand and not with computers.
I also thought that the claim that children who learn to write on computers are better writers than those who learn to write by freehand first. I'm not sure I completely agree with that, or what the correlation is between a persons skill as a writer and what they used (keyboard or pencil) when learning to write. What are your thoughts?
Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day!
-
On the last Saturday in April, Independent Bookstore Day is recognized! It
brings together the celebration of classics, entrepreneurship, and …
The post ...
6 days ago
2 comments:
I think it's completely unfair to compare the quality of writing on word processors vs. the quality of handwritten documents. I remember in elementary school that one of my favorite types of tests (if I absolutely had to choose) were spelling tests, mostly because I usually aced them. Although I learned to write by hand before I learned to write on a computer, I will readily admit today that my spelling is not as strong as it was in my elementary school years. This shouldn't make sense because my vocabulary has clearly advanced since then, but it does. I, like everyone else who uses Microsoft Word, or some type of word processing document on a computer, rely heavily on spell check and thesaurus. It is at the point now where Word will automatically correct a spelling or usage error for me as I type, so I don't even have to go back to think twice about it.
This is where writing in word processors lacks. If you compared a handwritten document to a Word document, both produced by the same fourth grader, naturally the Word document is going to be superior, simply because the handwriting is an accurate reflection of ONLY the student's abilities, whereas the Word document is an accurate reflection of the student's abilities WITH the assistance of spell check.
I feel after examining it in this way it is absolutely impossible to compare value of one against the other. Although I do feel that if you completely eliminated handwriting from the picture you would have very poor spelling students. But then again, with smart phones and iPads and whatever else comes next, an individual's spelling abilities may just be a thing of the past.
After viewing this clip I was startled at the high praise keyboards had in relationship to handwriting. The idea of not learning to print and just learning the keyboard did not make any sense to me. First, in order to use a keyboard one needs to know how to spell. As demonstrated in the video spelling comes from writing. We learn how to spell with writing assignments-trace "B" five times, now "C." Also, the more I write the better my spelling becomes as I become more aware of words I continually misspell and fix them the next time. This has to do with Sarah's incorporation of the automatic dictionary, spell check, and thesaurus on Word. If we only used the computer we wouldn't have these little lessons during our writing because we wouldn't always catch the misspellings to consciously fix later.
I additionally found it interesting when the woman at the end talked about the personalization of written letters versus typed pages. I too find them much more meaningful and love getting snail mail. I constantly write letters to my friends and relatives, and have gotten picked on for it. I love writing letters however and feel greatly attached to them, more so than typed papers. The woman described seeing/reading her mother's script and feeling as though she was with her. I have letters from my great aunts and my grandmother that I cherish and when I pick them up I feel very close to them. Don't get me wrong e-mails are much easier and efficient and I send e-mails constantly throughout my day but there still is something about personalized letters, and the importance of neat handwriting that will always stick with me.
Post a Comment