The benefits of writing by hand and printing school materials have long lasting effects on learning and memory.
While much of the educational environment in 2020 moved to online learning as a response to the Wuhan coronavirus prevention measures, students still require printed materials for their education. International Minute Press in Pineville has seen a surge in orders for learning packet printing at their site https://www.pineville.intlminutepress.com .
Keyboards and touch screens can be helpful to stay up with technology, but there are key skills that a child develops and learns by reading and interacting with things in the physical world. While some may say that the art of handwriting is outdated, it has an element of developing key fine motor skills, as well as giving a different type of feedback to the brain than can occur with a computer.
There are also many crafts that can be done with paper, that cannot be replicated in the digital world.
As one local art director mentioned, children in school are losing fine motor skills to be able to manipulate objects as simple as shoelaces. Those fine motor skills translate into being "handy" and able to make adjustments to things in the real world later on in life.
Some people find that they learn better with physical print and handwriting than reading off of a screen and typing. In fact, studies across 10 countries have indicated that the brain retains and processes information better when notes are taken by hand on paper rather than a computer. There are elements of processing that happen when paper is involved instead of a digital device.
Studies of children in grades 2-5 indicate that the mind is more engaged when doing handwriting than typing, with different brain wave patterns and more elements of the mind's memory area in use.
The bottom line is that writing things down does have an impact on memory and learning. It is also a visible way of tracking and celebrating a student's progress. Digital media has its place in preparing children for a future utilizing technology. Printed curriculum also has real world value for students and is ultimately the best way to integrate learning and information retention.
