Earlier this month, I came across an article in one of my education classes, and was posed with this question: In his New York Times blog post, “Ending the Curse of Cursive,” John Tierney quoted Vanderbilt professor Steve Graham: “If every young child had a computer to write on, and the keyboards were built for young children, and we provided instruction to help them type fluently, then the need for handwriting would be questionable.” Do you agree with Dr. Graham that we should eschew teaching cursive writing in favor of focusing on word processing instruction? What would be the impact of this decision on elementary children and curriculum?

I believe that as a society, we are too dependent on technology. I have had my fair share of lost essays because a computer malfunctioned, and there is no way to get my work back. With that being said, I cannot see how the need for handwriting is questionable. While we can always count on computers to ensure accuracy and appearance, computers cannot teach young children the fine motor skills they need to develop.

My handwriting is important to me--it is unique to me, and it is not perfect. I love that I can look back at the work I did in elementary school and see how it has improved. Your handwriting can tell a lot about you--we all know what "teacher" handwriting is! It is so easy to quickly jot something down. What happens to the kids who only know how to communicate with a computer? How will they jot information down on the fly? How will they remember someone's phone number if they have no way to type it into a phone or computer?

One of my peers made a great point--Hurricane Sandy devastated many parts of NYC. What would happen to those students who lost power for weeks at a time? How would they learn? How would they do work?

Finally, a computer's spell check is a wonderful tool. But for a student who is just learning letter sounds, spell check is inhibiting them from learning. Revision is a big part of the writing process, and a computer essentially does the work for a student. Once a little red line pops up beneath a word, hey know it is spelled incorrectly. If a student finishes a story and does not see red or green lines, they will believe they are finished. Will students really re-read their work if they believe it to be perfect?

Computers are wonderful and have helped to advance society. But to do away with teaching children how to write is so asinine I cannot believe someone suggested it!


What do you think about technology's role in education today? Exactly how important is a child's handwriting? Will computers ever fully replace our need for handwriting--or maybe just cursive handwriting?