On the one hand, I’m skeptical of the assertions that pen and paper is inherently a better way to take notes and learn.
But I do agree with the general aversion to a lot of ed tech. So much effort to shove kids faces in front of softwear and hardware that was sold to administrators by marketing teams from big tech companies. So many opportunities for those tech companies to exploit local school districts, ether to extract unreasonable profits, or for access to a mailable locked in user base.
If a school is going to go all in teaching with computers, they need to be carefully choosing what they use and not just adopting a premade package from some tech company.
Educational research is a bit of an anomaly, in that it has the lowest replication study rate of any “real” scientific discipline. There are lots of reasons for that, but it means that you can cherry pick individual studies to support just about any pedagogical (teaching) practice.
That said, the evidence is pretty clear that there is higher retention for most learners when writing by hand. Even writing with a stylus on the screen seems to lead to lower retention. There’s something about the multisensory input learners get from pencil and paper that seems to make a difference.
That said, that doesn’t mean there’s no places for Ed tech. In particular, students learn how to write better when they can edit their text, which happens a lot faster with a word processor. Digital science labs allow for quick exploration of a topic in minutes instead of needing a full class period for setup and clean up.
But it should only be used when appropriate, imho as a K-12 educator and parent.
Writing by hand is a good way to get fine eye hand coordination. I think, at least for younger kids, writing should be primary during development. Around 12 years of age it could be phased towards computers instead.
On the one hand, I’m skeptical of the assertions that pen and paper is inherently a better way to take notes and learn.
But I do agree with the general aversion to a lot of ed tech. So much effort to shove kids faces in front of softwear and hardware that was sold to administrators by marketing teams from big tech companies. So many opportunities for those tech companies to exploit local school districts, ether to extract unreasonable profits, or for access to a mailable locked in user base.
If a school is going to go all in teaching with computers, they need to be carefully choosing what they use and not just adopting a premade package from some tech company.
Educational research is a bit of an anomaly, in that it has the lowest replication study rate of any “real” scientific discipline. There are lots of reasons for that, but it means that you can cherry pick individual studies to support just about any pedagogical (teaching) practice.
That said, the evidence is pretty clear that there is higher retention for most learners when writing by hand. Even writing with a stylus on the screen seems to lead to lower retention. There’s something about the multisensory input learners get from pencil and paper that seems to make a difference.
That said, that doesn’t mean there’s no places for Ed tech. In particular, students learn how to write better when they can edit their text, which happens a lot faster with a word processor. Digital science labs allow for quick exploration of a topic in minutes instead of needing a full class period for setup and clean up.
But it should only be used when appropriate, imho as a K-12 educator and parent.
Writing by hand is a good way to get fine eye hand coordination. I think, at least for younger kids, writing should be primary during development. Around 12 years of age it could be phased towards computers instead.