The pendulum is swinging. Analog is back in style, albeit by means of education policy. Thanks to generative-AI tools, like ChatGPT, handwritten assignments may increasingly become the norm in higher education, and K-12 schools are re-incorporating cursive writing into their curriculum.
University professors are spearheading a handwriting revolution by requiring students to write, not type, their assignments, sometimes while they are sitting in class under the watchful eye of the professor. Professors are attempting to curb plagiarism via AI, and students, who have grown up using computers and tablets to complete schoolwork, will no doubt find the transition difficult. Luckily, state education departments, like Georgia’s, have decided to reincorporate cursive handwriting into their education standards for grammar school. By the time these students go on to college, they’ll be more fluent in handwriting.
With all this talk of analog versus digital, and the debate the issue will garner, the merits of handwriting needs to be front and center of the conversation. Just the other day, a pencil company, Blackwing, spelled out the benefits in a recent email to their subscribers on World Productivity Day:
While screens dominate our daily lives, there's a powerful, often overlooked, tool for productivity: a pencil. At Blackwing, we champion the unique connection between hand, mind, and paper as a path to deeper thinking and more impactful work. Here are some insights to consider:
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