Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Question: At our children’s school, almost all assignments are done on computer. Are there any good arguments for them to do some of their work on paper? – Paperless!
Answer:
We definitely are in the digital era! And educators appear to want to get as many computers as they can into the classrooms. Also, many millennials feel that computers are better for their children to learn on. Here are a few points you might want to bring to any discussion of this issue:
- Universities are finding out that students who write their class notes by hand retain the information better than students who take notes on their computer.
- A higher number of students passed a standardized test when the test was taken using pen and paper compared to students taking the same test on a computer.
- Older students seem to complete more assignments if they are done online; however, they don’t seem to comprehend material taught to them online as easily as the old-fashion lecture note-taking method.
- Computers used in the classroom can be a distraction for other students with everyone typing at a different rate and all the students hear is the clicking of the keys.
- Also, students type at very different speeds. Therefore, in writing a timed essay on the computer, a slower typist would be at a disadvantage.
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com or to the Dear Teacher website.
©Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2019