These days, it’s becoming more common for people to use cursive to sign their name, and that’s it.
Many children in elementary school are still taught to practice their curvy S’s and the always difficult capital Q’s and Z’s. But whether that skill stays with them is another story.
Haley Bertrand, 14, will be a freshman at Penfield High School this year. She learned to write in cursive in the third grade, but hasn’t bothered to use it since. When fifth grade came around, she learned typing in school.
Now, she prefers to turn in writing assignments that are typed rather than handwritten.
“I like typing better,” she said. “It’s just faster, and I’m a pretty fast typer.”
Older generations have had a different kind of experience when it comes to learning cursive.
Haley’s mother, Libby, didn’t even touch a computer until college in the 1980s. In high school, she used an electric typewriter for longer essays. But it was cursive for everything else.
Libby can’t shake the habit of using cursive as easily as her kids, but she doesn’t consider the shift to digital scripting a negative thing, necessarily.
“I’ve always figured it would get them ready for the business world quicker,” she said.
The next level
As children enter high school and continue through college, a growing number of educators are questioning whether there should be more emphasis on teaching penmanship or typing.
It’s quickly become a topic of national discussion. According to a 2010 study from Indiana University and the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, writing by hand increases brain activity and memory of concepts.
In a college classroom, students often take notes by hand during a lecture or class discussion. When it comes to turning in written exams, the ability to produce legible handwriting is a necessary skill.
Verdis Robinson teaches history and African American studies at Monroe Community College. His classes are writing intensive, and when it’s time for an essay portion of an exam, they must sit and write.
“I do say to make it legible, because if I cannot read it, I cannot grade it,” said Robinson, 34. “But I don’t require them to write in cursive because most of them can’t.”
Like most professors, he requires all formal writing assignments to be typed and formatted in a specific way. This can be a challenge for adult students who aren’t as tech savvy as their younger classmates.
These days, it’s becoming more common for people to use cursive to sign their name, and that’s it.
Many children in elementary school are still taught to practice their curvy S’s and the always difficult capital Q’s and Z’s. But whether that skill stays with them is another story.
Haley Bertrand, 14, will be a freshman at Penfield High School this year. She learned to write in cursive in the third grade, but hasn’t bothered to use it since. When fifth grade came around, she learned typing in school.
Now, she prefers to turn in writing assignments that are typed rather than handwritten.
“I like typing better,” she said. “It’s just faster, and I’m a pretty fast typer.”
Older generations have had a different kind of experience when it comes to learning cursive.
Haley’s mother, Libby, didn’t even touch a computer until college in the 1980s. In high school, she used an electric typewriter for longer essays. But it was cursive for everything else.
Libby can’t shake the habit of using cursive as easily as her kids, but she doesn’t consider the shift to digital scripting a negative thing, necessarily.
“I’ve always figured it would get them ready for the business world quicker,” she said.
The next level
As children enter high school and continue through college, a growing number of educators are questioning whether there should be more emphasis on teaching penmanship or typing.
It’s quickly become a topic of national discussion. According to a 2010 study from Indiana University and the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, writing by hand increases brain activity and memory of concepts.
In a college classroom, students often take notes by hand during a lecture or class discussion. When it comes to turning in written exams, the ability to produce legible handwriting is a necessary skill.
Verdis Robinson teaches history and African American studies at Monroe Community College. His classes are writing intensive, and when it’s time for an essay portion of an exam, they must sit and write.
“I do say to make it legible, because if I cannot read it, I cannot grade it,” said Robinson, 34. “But I don’t require them to write in cursive because most of them can’t.”
Like most professors, he requires all formal writing assignments to be typed and formatted in a specific way. This can be a challenge for adult students who aren’t as tech savvy as their younger classmates.
Robinson remembers a day when a 65-year-old student handed in a paper that was written carefully by hand.
“It was so impressive I had to show it to the whole class. It looked like calligraphy to me,” he said with a chuckle. “At the same time, I could not require that from everyone.”
He said that even the most legible handwriting is more difficult to read than a typed sentence. And since you can type pages in a matter of minutes, writing by hand is quickly becoming obsolete just as quickly as pen, paper, and even face-to-face conversations.
A generation gap
When it comes to communicating with her family, Libby Bertrand said it’s often easier to text each other.
This also differs from her own experience as a teenager, especially the fun of talking on the phone with friends.
Her teenage daughter is linked to her friends by phone, but instead of voices, it’s more common to hear the sound of thumbs tapping against the keys.
“For us, talking was everything. Now, the conversations are all texts,” she said.
Texting does come in handy in certain situations, like when her husband is in a meeting and can’t talk. A short text can get his attention and convey the message just as easily.
But without talking to someone face-to-face, it can be hard to understand the tone behind the words in a text, she explained.
“You can get a hold of your family members quickly, but sometimes a lot can get lost in translation.”
To the cloud
The question of technology in making communication quicker and easier is not just limited to school work.
With devices like the iPhone and iPad, it’s now easy for users to access documents saved on their personal computer from other locations.
This provides alternatives to traditional ways of communicating.
Instead of writing a note to yourself on the kitchen counter, for example, you can type simple messages like “Walk the dog at 3 p.m.” into your computer and get a text with the same message.
The latest model of the iPhone even allows you to give a verbal command that can complete the same action without lifting a finger.
“It’s faster than finding a pen and paper,” said Robinson.
As the world outside of academia is changing, the classroom is changing with it.
“You’ve got to go with the times,” he said. “It’s a good thing we’re going that way because every month they’re coming up with a new gadget to keep everything synched. It’s all about efficiency.”
