Will children become smarter by writing or drawing by hand?



It has become clear that handwriting notes of lesson content

tends to give better grades than taking notes on a PC or smartphone. A study of the effects of handwriting such letters has revealed that children who do handwriting may grow up smarter, and the national guideline states that 'minimum handwriting opportunities should be guaranteed.' Researchers insist.

Frontiers | The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting for Learning in the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-Year-Old Children and Young Adults | Psychology
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810/full

Why writing by hand makes kids smarter | EurekAlert! Science News
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/nuos-wwb100120.php

A research team led by Audrey van der Mer , a professor of neuropsychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), has set national guidelines to ensure that children have minimal handwriting opportunities. Claims that it needs to be serviced.



Mr. Mail has conducted multiple surveys to measure the effect of 'handwriting'. In the first survey of 2017, a research team, including Mail, analyzed the brain activity of 20 students. And the 2020 survey looks at the brain activity of 12

young adults and 12 children. This survey is the first to investigate the brain activity of children when they handwrite letters.

In the study by Mail et al., A hood-type device with more than 250 electrodes was used to investigate the brain activity of the subjects. The brain emits electrical signals during activity, but the 250 electrodes of the hood-type device detect the electrical signals of the brain so that the electrical activity occurring in the subject's brain can be sensed. is.



The survey was conducted for 45 minutes per subject, and the research team reportedly obtained as many as 500 data points per second. Research has shown that writing by hand is far more active in the brain than typing on the keyboard in both young adults and children.

When handwriting letters, various sensations such as the sound of writing letters and the sound of paper rubbing stimulate humans. These are said to activate the sensorimotor-related areas of the brain and make the brain suitable for learning. 'It has become clear that handwriting is better learned and better remembered for both young adults and children,' said Mail.



'We emphasize the importance of children drawing pictures and handwriting at school, especially when they are young,' said Mail, saying that the results of this survey were handwritten at schools and other educational institutions. We argue that providing opportunities for children will be important for the growth of children.

However, in modern times, the opportunities for typing keyboards and tapping touch screens are increasing even in school education, and the opportunities for handwriting are steadily decreasing. According to a survey of 19 EU countries, Norway is the 'country where children spend the longest time with digital devices'. According to a survey, Norwegian children aged 9 to 16 spend an average of four hours a day online. According to a similar survey conducted in 2010, Norwegian children spend about half of their time online, about two hours a day.

The pandemic of the new coronavirus has increased the opportunities for learning with digital devices around the world, but Mr. Mail does not complain that digital learning is bad. 'Given the increased opportunities for digital learning over the last few years, one or more generations are at risk of losing their handwriting skills. Our and other studies show opportunities for digital learning. It highlights the unfortunate side of the increase. '



In addition, Mail and his team argued that they should ensure that children have the opportunity to do a minimum of handwriting training. 'Some Norwegian schools have completely digitized their lessons, and the opportunity to do handwriting has been completely lost, and Finnish schools are even more digital than Norway. And few schools offer handwriting opportunities. '

In addition, some teachers argue that children's learning using the keyboard 'leads to satisfying children's frustration' and 'improves keyboard proficiency and leads to increased learning motivation.' doing.

In response to this situation, Mr. Mail said, 'Learning to write by hand may be a little slow process, but it is important for children to learn through handwriting. By handwriting, children have complicated hands. This is a movement that cannot be obtained only by using the keyboard. By handwriting, the child can acquire 'fine motor skills' and 'how to control the sensation'. You can, and it's important to keep your brain learning as often as possible through these. I also use the keyboard to write essays, but I take notes during the lecture by hand. ' ..



'The brain has evolved over thousands of years to help humans behave properly. To grow the brain in the best possible way, use it in the best possible condition,' said Mail. We need to use all our senses, go out, experience all kinds of weather, and meet others. If our brain doesn't push the limits, we need to maximize its potential. You can't do it. Writing by hand is important for maximizing your brain's potential, which also affects your school performance. '

in Science, Posted by logu_ii