So do you think this might replace handwriting altogether?

[Mynyel]

http://wlos.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wlos_paperless-classroom-11866.shtml?app_data={%22pi%22%3A%2251a693eadf0a5cb50b000004%22%2C%22pt%22%3A%22wall%22}

 

From second grade up? That means 7 and 8 year olds. Lord above know that my handwriting changed after those grades. So have my kids.

 

Do you think tablets and computers will replace written word?

 

I hope not.

[*Lulu*]

Why am I not surprised it is Spartanburg county.

 

I think having the technology available for those with fine motor delays and processing issues would be wonderful, but considering half the time you have to fight for that I cannot fathom finding the funding to implement and maintain such a program. (Emphasis on maintain, tech. is not cheap in the long term.)

[*Michelle*]

Reminds me of the "desks" from Ender's Game. At some point, I do think this will be the norm. I don't know how I feel about that.

[Julie Smith]

Reminds me of the "desks" from Ender's Game. At some point, I do think this will be the norm. I don't know how I feel about that.

 

 

Rereading the series recently I couldn't help but think of iPads (and the like) when reading about the desks.

[songsparrow]

Yes, I think this is the trend of the future. In fact, we use our tablets every day in our homeschool, and I think they have been of huge benefit. I also would much rather see kids carrying around a tablet instead of lugging a backpack full of heavy textbooks. I think it's great that they can be used to take notes, look up definitions, have interactive content, etc. I also hope that some day the stylus will become as responsive as a pencil and paper, and then I would be willing to go completely paperless.

 

However, I am still requiring my children to read and write by hand (both print and cursive). I also encourage them to play with the written word as an art form, with calligraphy and various decorative lettering fonts. While on the one hand, I hate to see the demise of the written word, I think it will eventually go the way of calligraphy and illustrated manuscripts.

[OrganicAnn]

It may, but who knows. I find it interesting that in France they generally require that applicants for jobs submit handwritten resumes. Not typed.

[chiguirre]

It may, but who knows. I find it interesting that in France they generally require that applicants for jobs submit handwritten resumes. Not typed.

 

That's because they're really into handwriting analysis as a guide to someone's personality. So instead of a Briggs Myers test, they analyze the applicant's handwriting. Each country has its quirks, that's one of the French ones.

[Joshin]

Eh, I'm not personally enamored with cursive. From 5th grade until I taught my eldest to write in cursive in third grade I didn't use it once except for my signature. That's 23 years that I didn't use it. I've taught both my kids cursive, mainly so they could develop their signature and read things written in cursive. I prefer print for writing because it's easier to read and just looks neater to me. It resembles typeface more and just looks cleaner. That's just my personal preference, I know some people really love cursive handwriting.

[Mommyof4ks]

We love our computers and idevices, but there are times when writing is easier and faster. I remember the excitement over a paperless world, but we have more paper now than ever before. It sounds like a gimmick that will fade away, at least for another generation or two.

[Tammi K]

Eh, I'm not personally enamored with cursive. From 5th grade until I taught my eldest to write in cursive in third grade I didn't use it once except for my signature. That's 23 years that I didn't use it.

 

 

Wow. I find that really amazing. I have no particular love of cursive, but I find it soooo much faster than printing.

[readinmom]

Our district is talking about doing this as well. One high school is the pilot this year. Textbooks, work, all necessary info is downloaded on the tablet. My students already submit essays to a "dropbox" to eliminate the paper/printer issue. Apparently with all the lawsuits of late, we are being discouraged from asking anything of a student that requires that extra effort. Because our school has a library with computer lab, students have the opportunity to submit their work electronically; no hardship.

 

I don't know how to feel about the tablets. Is handwriting going to be a lost art in all of this? Probably. What happpens when the tablet is dropped, broken, stolen, etc. Who is going to foot the bill?

[wingedradical]

I know this is terrible to admit on a classical board, but I never made my youngest son practice cursive. He can read it; he can sign his own name. It hasn't hurt him. He was a philosophy/religion major in uni; started writing for web while in highschool. Is now editor on a major website you would all know if I revealed it.

 

I can hardly get my dfd to do anything on a computer except facebook and occasional research. She has gorgeous handwriting, though (no credit to me).

[Heather in Neverland]

All of our students in our high school use an iPad. It is required. We teach penmanship in preschool through grade 2 with manuscript, one year of cursive in grade 3. After that,we do most things on laptops or iPads. We teach keyboarding skills from kindergarten through grade 4 as well. The goal is to have all kids typing 50 wpm by the time they leave grade 4 and it is working well.

 

My 15yo never learned cursive except to sign his name. He is doing quite well academically. I almost never write anything. Everything is on a computer or an iPad or an iPhone, etc.

[kiwik]

20 years ago people were talking about paperless offices - hasn't happened here at least. You can't get past a pencil and paper for cost effectiveness. I am not giving my clumsy, careless, thoughtless ds6 an expensive breakable object to carry round.

[Pawz4me]

My youngest DS was accepted into our county's early college high school. He'll be given a MacBook Pro to use. I don't have any problem with it. I doubt handwriting is going anywhere.

[Night Elf]

This is something I've wondered about. My 16 yr. old rarely writes anything. He uses the laptop with our online school. I stress about him having to learn to take notes for college. I'm worried not every instructor will allow laptops into their classrooms. I've tried to teach my son proper touch keyboarding, but he has never picked up speed. He still prefers his 3 or 4 finger method and tests slightly faster with it. He still does practice typing every day though. He just hates it. I don't know what he'll do if an instructor won't allow a laptop into the classroom. He'll be SOL I guess.

 

He also never picked up cursive. I did teach it to him years ago but he has always printed. I do a combination that I developed when I was taking college notes. I prefer printing though. All cursive slows me down because I'm particular about how the letters should be formed. I absolutely hate sloppiness.

[WishboneDawn]

What I've often wondered is the role Apple's marketing department plays I these decisions. Is the prime motivator education or improving a company's bottom line?

[*Michelle*]

I have a boy that had a terrible time waiting for his body to develop enough for legible handwriting. The interesting thing watching was that even with illegible handwriting, writing down notes and thoughts transferred info to his mind much better than typing ever did. I think that is an area the psychs should study.

 

I definitely agree there. I've always retained more after writing notes than from simply reading or listening.

[Pawz4me]

What I've often wondered is the role Apple's marketing department plays I these decisions. Is the prime motivator education or improving a company's bottom line?

 

I'd say it's all about marketing and creating a loyal following for years to come.

[Plateau Mama]

In our district all middle & high school students have laptops. In 2-5th the have them at school but aren't allowed to bring them home. They have had this for at least the last 4 years. The only textbook they have (that thy bring home anyway) is math. For math they checkout a book to keep at home and there is a class set at school so they don't have to bring it back and forth.

[AimeeM]

Not in this house.

[GailV]

I always wonder what happens when the power goes out due to either natural disaster or fragile, out-of-date infrastructure. Also, what happens when the network goes out?

 

ETA: I don't actually read much dystopian lit, but I tend to think in those terms quite a bit.

[Mom0012]

All of our students in our high school use an iPad. It is required. We teach penmanship in preschool through grade 2 with manuscript, one year of cursive in grade 3. After that,we do most things on laptops or iPads. We teach keyboarding skills from kindergarten through grade 4 as well. The goal is to have all kids typing 50 wpm by the time they leave grade 4 and it is working well.

 

My 15yo never learned cursive except to sign his name. He is doing quite well academically. I almost never write anything. Everything is on a computer or an iPad or an iPhone, etc.

 

Heather -

 

How are you managing to get them to type that fast that young? Neither of my kids are making the progress with typing that I had hoped, though I expect my dd will eventually. I'm not sure my son ever will due to fine motor and gross motor planning issues. Is there a program or method you can recommend? Or is there a certain amount of time we should be focusing on this daily? We've only been doing about 10-15 minutes a day, but my son has been working on this for 3 years. Sorry to hijack, but I've got another thread going on this and I haven't really gotten the answers I need. 50 wpm by 4 th grade sounds wonderful.

[Mom0012]

 

 

I definitely agree there. I've always retained more after writing notes than from simply reading or listening.

 

This is what I have always felt as well. My dd takes an online Spanish class and they want her to type her homework onto their worksheet and hand it in. I have her write it all out, because I think writing it really reinforces what she is learning. I don't think typing will do that. On the other hand, I was just reading that for kids with dysgraphia, the opposite may occur. So much effort goes into the writing that they learn nothing. I've just starting to wonder if my son has dysgraphia.

[Lisbeth]

http://wlos.com/shar...4","pt":"wall"}

 

From second grade up? That means 7 and 8 year olds. Lord above know that my handwriting changed after those grades. So have my kids.

 

Do you think tablets and computers will replace written word?

 

I hope not.

 

Until the EMP hits. I'm kidding. Sort of.

[Serenade]

I remember the excitement over a paperless world, but we have more paper now than ever before.

 

This is so true. My biggest housecleaning battle is fighting the paper monster.

[Serenade]

What happpens when the tablet is dropped, broken, stolen, etc. Who is going to foot the bill?

 

 

This is what I wonder. There will be some kids who won't be able to pay the replacement value. What will happen then? The taxpayers will pay, of course. But how many times? How many times can a kid lose a computer at taxpayer expense? And what will happen to that kid when the administrators say, "no more." To replace a lost book here and there is nothing compared to the cost of replacing a tablet.

[Heather in Neverland]

 

 

Heather -

 

How are you managing to get them to type that fast that young? Neither of my kids are making the progress with typing that I had hoped, though I expect my dd will eventually. I'm not sure my son ever will due to fine motor and gross motor planning issues. Is there a program or method you can recommend? Or is there a certain amount of time we should be focusing on this daily? We've only been doing about 10-15 minutes a day, but my son has been working on this for 3 years. Sorry to hijack, but I've got another thread going on this and I haven't really gotten the answers I need. 50 wpm by 4 th grade sounds wonderful.

 

We use this:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

 

And this:

 

http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/tutor/keyboarding.php?lang=EN

 

 

The kids love them! My ds just finished 3rd grade yesterday and brought home his certificate of 46WPM. So he is almost there! Not every student hits the mark but most of them do.

 

They have one hour of computer class each week and spent about half of it on keyboarding. However, we do a lot of other things on computers all week long and all of our students have computers at home so they get lots of practice.

 

My oldest ds learned at home on Spongebob typing and he is a FAST typist now (but that is also because of facebook!).

[Heather in Neverland]

 

 

 

This is what I wonder. There will be some kids who won't be able to pay the replacement value. What will happen then? The taxpayers will pay, of course. But how many times? How many times can a kid lose a computer at taxpayer expense? And what will happen to that kid when the administrators say, "no more." To replace a lost book here and there is nothing compared to the cost of replacing a tablet.

 

Our school has an insurance policy that covers damaged or stolen iPads. It is a small fee per student (about $25 a year). They can opt out of the insurance but then they take on the risk themselves.

[Heather in Neverland]

This is something I've wondered about. My 16 yr. old rarely writes anything. He uses the laptop with our online school. I stress about him having to learn to take notes for college. I'm worried not every instructor will allow laptops into their classrooms. I've tried to teach my son proper touch keyboarding, but he has never picked up speed. He still prefers his 3 or 4 finger method and tests slightly faster with it. He still does practice typing every day though. He just hates it. I don't know what he'll do if an instructor won't allow a laptop into the classroom. He'll be SOL I guess.

He also never picked up cursive. I did teach it to him years ago but he has always printed. I do a combination that I developed when I was taking college notes. I prefer printing though. All cursive slows me down because I'm particular about how the letters should be formed. I absolutely hate sloppiness.

 

Many universities now REQUIRE kids to purchase a laptop... And often a specific laptop... Before attending. Tablets and laptops are ubiquitous in universities now. I would be surprised to hear of a professor not allowing them.

 

I can see lap tops, but how on earth does a person take notes on a tablet. I can't stand typing anything on mine. I can barely tolerate surfing the web with it.

 

My students are really proficient at this although some do choose to use an external wireless keyboard.

 

It's really amazing to have this tool. For example: in the high school English class, kids read their assigned novel through kindle or iBooks. They can highlight, make notes for discussion, look up unfamiliar words instantly, etc. A teacher can create vocabulary lists and share them through our Mental Case app. Students can study these e-flashcards then take a quiz through our school's network that corrects the quiz and records the grade in PowerSchool instantly.

 

They use Noodle-tools when writing research papers. It helps them organize notes, cite things properly, create bibliographies and format their papers. The papers are submitted electronically through turnitin.com which checks for plagiarism. We use the air server to share what we have on our iPads with the rest of the class.

 

I could go on and on. I just finished teaching a year-long honors English course and I didn't use a single physical book or piece of paper all year. No one in my class picked up a pen or pencil. No one had heavy books to carry. It has been awesome!!

 

We don't miss cursive at all. :)

[Kakids]

Many universities now REQUIRE kids to purchase a laptop... And often a specific laptop... Before attending. Tablets and laptops are ubiquitous in universities now. I would be surprised to hear of a professor not allowing them.

The big universities probably, but this is not universal yet. I know of smaller schools where no computer is required, and some professors are still prohibiting them from being used in class. It is changing, but it isn't there yet. I do think it is silly that most professors who prohibit them are doing it on the basis that they feel an open computer is being used to play on and not work.