The new study suggests that those writing on paper rephrased information as they took notes...; in contrast, those working on a keyboard tended to take a lot of notes... but avoided what is known as 'desirable difficulty'.
Operating a keyboard is not the same: all you have to do is press the right key. It is easy enough for children to learn very fast, but above all, the movement is exactly the same whatever the letter.
Dr James points out that when writing by hand, we are likely to produce a result that is highly variable. That variability may itself be a learning tool. 'When a kid produces a messy letter,' Dr James said, 'that might help him learn it'. Our brain must understand that each possible repetition of, say, the letter 'a' is the same, no matter how we see it written.
Questions
1. Typing is a simple process when compared to the physical and mental demands of handwriting.
2. Children who are allowed to write freely and untidily may learn from the process.
3. Using a keyboard result in a lot of writing but little processing of information.