Society of late has been racing full steam ahead toward the ever-increasing domination of technology over our lives and over our classrooms. Higher education is moving toward online and hybrid courses over traditional classrooms, not to mention MOOCs. I tend to be the personality type (perhaps a bit too nostalgic?) that avoids new technologies and sticks to my old ways. I have resisted the smart phone movement after a temporary stint with an iphone convinced me that it was turning me into a zombie. I still make to-do lists on pen and paper, even though my computer frequently reminds me that it can display virtual post-it notes on the desktop.
But lest I get too heavy handed (I am, after all, typing away at a blog), I will narrow my focus to one particular area where I believe a return to the old fashioned, even if only occasionally, may do our brain some good: Writing!
My obsession with writing longhand instead of typing is long ingrained as a strategy of graduate school. I have always thought intuitively that when I write something out with a pen and paper, I tend to remember it better than if I type it. In fact, my primary study technique for Econometrics classes was usually to recopy and synthesize my notes over and over and over again. There is something about writing that seems to stick better than typing. And recently I came across several studies which confirmed my longstanding beliefs. A Wall Street Journal article from 2010 focused on the cognitive benefits of handwriting, arguing that writing by hand engages the brain in learning in a way that typing does not. The article touts the benefits of handwriting practice for children learning new shapes and letters, for adults learning new information, and even for aging adults looking to keep their cognitive skills sharp. University of Washington professor Virginia Berninger found that children in her study wrote better essays (writing more, better, and more complete sentences) when they wrote with a pen and paper than when they typed. Still other studies emphasize the benefits of writing down goals, finding that people who write down their goals are more likely to accomplish them.
So why would writing by hand offer an advantage over typing? Dr. Berninger argues that when you actually use your hand to form letters, your brain in more engaged in the writing process than simply pressing keys. Other studies have referenced a bunch of cells at the base of the brain called the reticular activating system (RAS). The RAS filters and processes our activities and stimuli, and gives greater attention and focus to activities we are actively engaged in. Scientists argue that writing stimulates the RAS by bringing the physical act of writing to the forefront and forcing our brain to give the utmost attention to our writing. Basically, writing on paper forces us to concentrate more, even without accounting for all the other distractions available on our computer screen.
I’ve also come across this idea working with faculty. Some of the best professors I have known in the CUNY system still teach by writing things out on the blackboard/whiteboard, eschewing power point slides. They tell me that the act of writing things out on the board, while students (hopefully) do the same, engages students more than power point presentations.
So I leave this an open-ended proposal to all readers. Do you still do any longhand writing in your life? Maybe for to-do lists, or thank you notes? Will you try any longhand writing in classroom activities?