How Does the Shift from Handwriting to Digital Writing Technologies Impact Writing for Learning in School?

Abstract

The shift from handwriting to using writing technologies are widespread in today’s schools. And where handwriting still is the most used method, it is supported with digital writing technologies. My aim in this article is to show and discuss some aspects on how digital writing technologies impacts learning in school. Writing is a frequent activity in all education and the shift from handwriting til keyboarding brings significant changes. The linear form of text production that characterizes handwriting is replaced by a flexible and non-linear form. Keyboarding enables the writer to start any place in the document and edit constantly without having to start over. For students in school, it is also a benefit that they can write long texts even before their handwriting skills are developed. This seems to stimulate motivation for writing and producing texts in school. The study showed that digital writing technology improved writing skills but not text skills. Therefore, using digital writing technology prerequisite emphasis on supervising the writing process to develop good text strategies.