While many schools are transitioning all instruction to tablets, several researchers question the benefits of such an approach. Indeed, new evidence supports the hypothesis that handwriting promotes learning more than typing. According to a recent study, brain activity is significantly more sophisticated in areas of the brain involved in memory and encoding new information when writing by hand. Its authors therefore recommend that writing be preserved in education and not evacuated in favor of all-keyboard writing.
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analyzed the electrical activity in the brains of about 40 students in their twenties as they typed a series of words either using a digital pen on a screen or typing on a keyboard. The brain’s electrical activity was measured by high-density electroencephalography using a 256-electrode headset worn by the participants.
Areas of the brain that are activated
Analyzing these recordings allowed researchers from Audrey Van der Meer’s team to know which areas of the brain were activated, as well as to determine the connectivity between different neural networks while the participants performed the task. The researchers were particularly interested in this connectivity because it “has been shown to facilitate learning and memory,” they point out in their paper published in Frontiers in Psychology.
They then observed that a larger part of the brain was activated when participants typed words with a pen rather than a keyboard. And also that the activation of certain areas of the brain was synchronous, meaning they worked together. Thus, handwriting led to much richer and more complex functional connectivity and was manifested primarily in the parietal and central regions of the brain, which were known to be “linked to attentional mechanisms and cognitive processes involved in visual perception and language. Previous studies have also shown that connectivity in these two regions is essential for remembering and encoding new information.
For Audrey Van der Meer, this increased connectivity that handwriting generates is “proof that it promotes learning more than writing.”
“Brain research shows that learning is facilitated not only by the simple motor activity of the fingers, but rather by the complex and precise coordinated movements of the hand (and fingers) as the pen traces the shape of each letter. » The manipulation of the pen has been shown to lead to various neurological processes that create optimal conditions in the brain for learning and memorization, the researchers say in their article.
“The fact that handwriting requires fine motor control of the fingers forces students to pay attention to what they are doing. As for the mechanical and repetitive movements of writing, they do not require very fine visual and motor commands or proprioceptive information (about the position of different parts of the hand through muscles, tendons, ligaments and skin),” they point out. .
Learning from an early age
In conclusion, the authors of the study strongly recommend that children be trained to write by hand from an early age in order to create networks of neural connectivity that make the brain better prepared for learning. While they insist that handwriting practice be maintained throughout the school curriculum, they recognize the importance of using digital technology, which they do not prohibit. UQAR’s Natalie Lavoie agrees: “In school you have to teach and work on both. Don’t think that keyboarding is innate to children. It is especially difficult for a young child to find the letters on the keyboard because they are not arranged in the alphabetical order they know. »
Norwegian scientists recommend choosing the method that is most suitable for the given context. For example, taking notes by hand rather than using a keyboard, as manipulating the pen would allow for better memorization of concepts. On the other hand, for example writing a dissertation, typing would be quite suitable and would save time and transfer the document quickly.