CC Image courtesy of churl on Flickr

I’ll be the first to admit that my handwriting has deteriorated as I’ve spent more time with the keyboard than with the pen.  However, I do marking the old-fashioned way — spilling lots of (green) ink on the submitted papers and assignments — and hope that the students are able to read my scribbled comments.

It is obvious that keying (whether at your computer or on your phone) is corporeally different from writing by hand. But neuroscience is suggesting that it might also result in different cognitive skills:

Cursive’s flow works the brain differently and builds distinct cognitive skills. Handwriting reinforces reading and spelling, develops motor memory as it becomes automatic, teaches students to focus and may help them remember what they learn.

Neuroscientists know that the brain changes throughout life depending on how we use it.

As keyboards replace cursive, new neural pathways are created and new cognitive skills replace the old.

The quote is from Toronto Star reporter Andrea Gordon’s piece on “The Death of Handwriting” — part of her feature series, Disappearing Ink.

If the handwriting is on the wall for cursive, neuroscientists  fear that the cognitive skills that handwriting builds may be lost or, according to one psychiatrist, that our brains “will develop in a different way that no one has really thought through.”

That, of course, has implications for all of us, especially those who are engaged in the field of education.