As a technological revolution diffuses throughout the world, the craft of writing longhand is gently paling. The world is dislodging the authentic pen to paper and grasping hold of a screen. For the adolescent writers of the world, it is facile to get roped into this movement. As adolescent writers ourselves, we have encountered the tantalizing ropes of technology. However, being exposed to longhand writing in our English 112 class has only strengthened our drive to explore the world of longhand writing and its’ benefits.

When beginning to research the benefits of longhand writing, it was the polar opposite of arduous to acquire research and articles pertinent to our topic of research. In the following bibliography, all of the articles present an akin objective; the pen is a stronger learning tool than the keyboard. Each article presents a comparison of the creativity sparked through pen and paper versus the stagnant productivity of typing. Although, they each brought individual evidence to support the central theory. The first article mentions kindergartners learning the alphabet. The second and third articles use students taking notes as a study. The last article provides a first person preference of writing with a swift, free pen.

As we dive into the writing world and all of its’ secrets, we hope to uncover more about what we presume is the best way to write; pen and paper. There is a collection of information to inquire about the effects of turning away from the screen. Is it as beneficial as we already believe it to be? If so, what are these benefits and why? Perhaps this research will drive momentum for an expedition to enlighten the people around us about old-fashioned, longhand writing.

Annotated Bibliography

Chemin , Anne. “Handwriting vs Typing: Is the Pen Still Mightier than the Keyboard?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 Dec. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/16/cognitive-benefits-handwriting-decline-typing. 

“Handwriting vs Typing: Is the Pen Still Mightier than the Keyboard?” addresses how although technology continues to control more of our lives, handwriting still results in more cognitive benefits. Handwriting not only provides a “tactile record of your work and its creative stages”, but it also increases your word processing and recognition skills. The main study mentioned discusses how children who are learning to write the alphabet first are able to identify letters in various fonts better than the other children rather than those who type it first. An additional study addressed in the article exceeds that thought. Students who take handwritten notes remember the information and can answer conceptual questions better due to the “preliminary process of summarising and comprehension” used in the process of taking notes longhand.

Seeing that, through studies, handwriting has been shown to be more beneficial in the classroom in contrast to using a computer. This can be to the students’ advantage. They can strengthen their cognitive abilities by exercising the practice of longhand note taking in the classroom. Teachers can also use these studies to understand that students need to learn longhand writing from the dawn of their education and incorporate it into the classroom.    

Kouvelis, Kallie. “Handwriting Vs. Typing: What You Need to Know.” Daily Herald, Apr 15, 2016. ProQuest, https://login.proxy032.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1781167553?accountid=9935. 

Focusing on a classroom study, “Handwriting Vs. Typing: What You Need to Know” draws attention to the outcome of handwritten notes versus typed notes. The research revealed that students who take notes longhand will perform better on “conceptual questions” than those who typed their notes. By typing notes, students include more “overlap with the instructors’ speech” rather than handwritten, paraphrased notes. Students benefit from the critical thinking involved with handwritten notes, which results in a surpassing intellectual performance.

The results of the research conducted on classroom students provides a fragment of insight to the effects of taking paper notes in preference of typed notes. It equips researchers and inquisitive people with data concluding that taking notes longhand most often results in a superior performance. This conclusion can aid teachers in designing more beneficial lesson plans and classroom activities that engage students to learn and excel.

Pearson, Catherine. “The Benefits of Writing With Good Old Fashioned Paper.” Huff Post, 7 Dec. 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/writing-on-paper_n_5797506. 

“The Benefits of Writing With Good Old Fashioned Paper” displays four central points as to why writing with pen and paper is more beneficial for students. In her article, Catherine Pearson indicates that writing with pen and paper slows a student down enough to comprehend what is being written, limits surrounding distractions, ignites imagination within a student, and it “requires more mental energy and engages more areas of the brain than pressing keys on a computer keyboard”. In a released study, students were asked to take notes “either longhand or on their computers” while listening to TED talks. Students were then tested on their conceptual understanding of what they took note on. The higher scoring group of students was the students who took notes longhand.

The research and discussion presented in this article is beneficial to students attempting to find an alternate yet enhanced way to study. By observing the results of the study and understanding the ideas presented, students can research study tools involving writing rather than a computer, which can introduce a more productive learning environment for students.

Rourke, Lee. “Why Creative Writing Is Better with a Pen.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Nov. 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/03/creative-writing-better-pen-longhand.

Lee Rourke presents a convincing argument in “Why Creative Writing Is Better with a Pen”. There is no doubt that technology is taking over the writing world. Rourke’s purpose is to write about how he and a few authors still prefer pen to paper. He makes an analogy of how the “constant tap-tap-tap-tap” of the keyboard makes him feel like he is in an office, which is boring to him. However, when writing longhand, Rourke can enter a “zone of comfort”. The main point he strives to convey is that the computer is distracting, when the alternative form of writing, longhand, is said to be a “deep felt, uninterrupted connection between thought and language.” 

Rourke’s message can be used to give anyone a good reason to turn away from the screen. If writing with pen to paper is as magical and stress relieving as he makes it sound, why don’t we do it more often? Writers can use this article to aid them in situations like writer’s block or even pure boredom.