Requirement for handwritten assignments - a response

A few days ago I posted an e-mail from a college student who appreciated being able to handwrite his assignments. The letter evoked a number of comments, one of which read:

I was considering removing all paper from my high school technology class - all my handouts would be PDF files, and all assignments turned in would be electronic. After reading a number of similar articles, I will continue to require hand-written assignments. I disagree with those who state that it was (or is) difficult to learn to write neatly. Make it a requirement, and allow students to correct their messes.  Kenn

I was honestly curious why a teacher would require hand-written assignments. Allow them, I could understand, but require them? So I asked Kenn for an explanation. He graciously wrote back and has given me permission to post it here...

Didn't expect the response, but thanks!

There are actually two reasons...
(1) I believe that the majority of my students (freshman) are not ready to turn in all assignments electronically. Since the majority of their other assignments in other classes involve paper and pencil, they have been unable to make the transition effectively.

(2) I have two children (ages 10 and 7) and am working on their handwriting skills. I have seen a huge number of freshman with very (and I mean very) poor handwriting skills. I know I am not responsible for teaching them to write, but I believe I need to make that part of the class.

I will also be making one change next semester, regarding hand-written assignments. The students will be required to hand in at least one page of hand-written notes for each class meeting. I have found that in my computer class students will not take notes unless required to. I believe they think that since it's "only" computer class, they will either learn through osmosis or just know it because it's computers.

I proposed going paperless to my department this past summer and was approved, but will not try that until next fall. I would like to continue this conversation and be kept informed of your opinions and other if possible.

Hope this helps...

Kenn Gorman
Computer Teacher / Aquatics Coach
Oaks Christian Schools

Were I Kenn's student, I might bristle a bit when asked to turn something in that is handwritten. But then, I was never a very good student and tended to bristle easily. And like quite a number of my peers, I have grown so accustomed to word-processing everything, I am probably less flexible than the kids Ken teaches.

Thanks, Kenn, for some good discussion fodder. 

IS handwriting a necessary skill?  

Comments

[Christopher Harris]

As someone who has great difficulty with handwriting, this would quite upset me. When I have to hand write something, I spend so much time worrying about letter formation and checking to make sure I am not skipping letters or words (as I am wont to do) that my quality of writing suffers. Oh, I can still write by hand, but expect it to be EITHER legible OR my best work.

I think it is time for the instruction of handwriting to die a natural death. But before the flames start, let me interject that we need to replace "handwriting" with instruction in calligraphy starting in kindergarten. Focus on the beauty of the formed letter - the kinesthetic motion of the swoop of an a and the tactile sense of moving the nib of the pen across paper.

Then we need to get over ourselves and realize that just like books are no longer the most efficient way of accessing information, hand writing is not even close to being an efficient way of recording information. To restrict a communication medium (writing) through the declaration of the mandatory use of a dead technology (handwriting) is silly. Do you mandate that students access websites using Lynx because some might not have computers that can handle Flash? Maybe we should bring back Gopher!

If "the majority of [your] students (freshman) are not ready to turn in all assignments electronically" then the answer is NOT to further cripple them by continuing to enforce the use of a dead technology. You want to teach them writing? Try Palm's Grafitti - that is the handwriting of the future! When I do have to handwrite now, I find myself forming letters like "p" from the bottom up in a single stroke as I do on my Palm. So much more efficient, even if it would send primary school teachers into an apoplectic fit if they saw me. Not that they wouldn't have already passed out from the horror of my malformed grip on my pen (don't even talk to me about pencils, roller ball pens are pretty much the only technology I have any chance of success with).

Just another opinion from someone who can "write" just fine, but can't "hand write" to save his life. And don't even get me started about too many humps in a cursive "m."

[liz]

I have relatively legible, quick handwriting -- a hybrid of print, manuscript, and calligraphy. However, my children & their father do not have legible handwriting. My youngest, a senior in high school, is particularly handicapped in this regard. She can take notes that are legible to herself, but "letter salad" abounds. For example, she knows how to spell "said" but I have seen both "siad" and "sadi" in her notes. Interestingly, "letter salad" doesn't happen if she is keyboarding.

She has evolved for herself a hybrid method of taking handwritten notes, a sort of Cornell-with-pictograms/maps that works quite well for her. She has also begun to use "concept maps".

I think that Kenn's requirement of "one page of handwritten notes" for his students is an interesting idea, though. I wonder if he counts off for illegibility, individual style, and spelling errors.

I smell an underlying assumption, though, in Kenn's approach: that everyone can have neat handwriting, if they just try hard enough. I do not think he is correct.

As one of the kids I coach says, "do you want it neat, or do you want it content-rich? Neat takes up all the brain power I need to think of the details."

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Liz,

My son's handwriting sounds much like your daughter's. A bit strange because he quite a talented cartoonist. When he "draws" his letters, they are legible, but when he is just printing (never have seen his cursive), it is illegible.

The only place I see bad handwriting as a genuine handicap is when a person fills out some kind of application form - for a job, school, etc. Right or wrong, a person's intelligence is often judged by his/her handwriting.

Thanks for "writing,"

Doug