Typing or Writing

Posted on September 11, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

Two years ago I switched from a regular laptop to a tablet.  At that point I turned in my dry erase markers.  I haven’t written on a white board since.

Almost all of my written communication is done using a keyboard instead of a pencil.  As a result, I think I may have reduced my learned ability to write.  I have noticed when I use a pencil, I must concentrate more on simple tasks such as forming letters.

I haven’t lost my ability to write, but it is much harder to do than it used to be.  I was in a meeting this week where I had to write everything down.  It was difficult to take simple notes and keep up with the speaker when I couldn’t reflexively write the letter “e” on the paper.  On top of that, my hand writing is barely legible.

The good news is that my typing skills have never been better.

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3 Responses to Typing or Writing

  1. Steve says:
    September 12, 2007 at 12:14 am

    When I was around seven years-old, I broke my favorite astronaut watch (the hour hand was a moon, the minute hand a landing capsule, and the second hand an astronaut out for a spacewalk). My father decided to buy me a digital watch, with the horrible red glowing numbers, as a replacement. After wearing the watch for a while I found that looking at “normal” clocks required more thought than before.
    To this day, I try to remind myself as often as possible that technology, with all of its power and advantages, can lead to lazy minds and lost skills. That said, when my cell phone battery dies I am completely unable to contact my wife. Here portable number is in my phone’s memory, but not mine…

  2. john Rappold says:
    September 12, 2007 at 11:44 am

    I can barely write a check these days, and it ticks me off. I guess I need to spend time physically writing again to regain my skills.

    Steve, I was in Sam’s Club last week and noticed they have “analog” watches. I’m really tired of trying to read my cell phone display or car clock in my car during the day, so I think I’m going to pick one up.

    Alvin, how about a post on how you use your tablet in the classroom?

  3. Pingback: Alvin’s Educational Technology Blog » Tablet In The Classroom