Is the art of writing dying out in the age of computer screens, iPhones, iPads? In the world, time dedicated to writing is increasingly thrown out of teaching, but many experts warn that it harms the intellectual abilities of students.
Although the keyboard and tactile interface are gaining importance in all spheres of life, scientists say that it is harmful for our brain to give up writing. The problem reached its peak when some countries, such as Finland, presented a plan to completely eliminate writing lessons in class and replace them with typing on computers or other digital devices.
Is this the right decision? It seems so, because currently in everyday life we use the keyboard more often than paper and pencil. However, several studies have shown that handwriting has a positive effect on the human brain.
According to the Finnish media, due to the consequences of the digital revolution from the autumn of 2016, in primary schools throughout Finland, students will not learn to write in written letters, but only in block letters. According to Minne Harmanen of the Finnish Ministry of Education, the use of the written letter and the interconnection of letters is exhausting for many students. Children, they hold in the ministry, concentrate on the handwriting, not on the essence, and that is one of the main reasons why they decided on this kind of novelty in their education system. They also hold that if students start using a computer immediately, they should not have such problems. The announced news made the students happy because the new generations, instead of writing on paper, prefer to write on computers. It is expected that a successful Finnish education system will encourage other European countries to think and change. Their neighbors from Sweden are already discussing the possible abolition of the teaching of written letters, and in some German schools only printed letters are also taught, the so-called Hamburger print font.
University of Washington professor Virginia Berninger has developed a study that proves that writing with a pen or pencil stimulates the work of the parts of the cerebral cortex that are responsible for memory and information analysis. For the purpose of the study, the professor asked students from one school to write two short essays: one on paper and one on a computer. Analyzing the texts, Berninger found that handwritten essays are more creative and contain a richer vocabulary.
According to the professor, who also included magnetic resonance imaging in her research on the functioning of the brain, the children had better results due to the fact that the brain works more actively in the process of writing by hand.
No matter how modern society is, you will always have to know how to sign. The letter is part of the personality, like a fingerprint. Developing beautiful writing is certainly something that is useful and it is really not clear to me that the Finns decided to take such a step. That the manuscript is part of the personality because two of the same manuscripts do not exist, and therefore the manuscript, I believe, should continue to be nurtured. Neuroscientists claim that handwriting activates areas in the brain that help us learn faster and better and that children learn to read faster when they learn to write by hand, but also better generate ideas and retain information.
The skill of learning to write in children is very important for the development of their motor curves. I honestly like to write, yes, I can quickly type any text on the keyboard, but it's also my job to write :)