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I didn't get a computer until university. My handwriting was terrible, remained terrible, and my ability to write essays increased dramatically when I was able

I didn't get a computer until university. My handwriting was terrible, remained terrible, and my ability to write essays increased dramatically when I was able to do so with a computer.

m0zg 8y ago
Essays, yes, I can see how a computer would help with essay writing. To write well by hand, one has to rewrite them twice: first write notes and fragments, then draft, then edited essay. But I don't know how I'd take notes in science and math if I couldn't quickly write formulae and draw. My handwriting is also terrible, but I could read it, and I would not be academically successful if I wasn't forced to take notes. I'm 100% certain of that. In fact, I've been writing more lately as a part of my studies. Things just seem to "stick" much better if I don't passively record, but either summarize, or embody something in code.
- Wowfunhappy 8y ago
  I'm glad that works for you, but I don't think it would have worked for me, and you shouldn't presume everyone learns the same way. I took handwritten notes extensively throughout middle school and never really got better at it. I don't have the hand coordination. Learning to type around 8th grade was a revelatory experience, and it had a noticeable impact in my academic performance. Writing, reviewing, note taking, and even just general organization became much easier, and I thus got better at it. I will say, dealing with math symbols on my typewriter-device was always a bit annoying, and I would sometimes write formulas from those classes on a standard notepad. I would hope that nowadays, we have better programs for dealing mathematical notation (in an easy/expedient way).
  - m0zg 8y ago
    >> we have better programs for dealing mathematical notation Not that I know of, no. The fastest thing available is LaTeX, and you need to compile to see if the formula came out correctly or not, and you might not know how to encode some of the gnarlier formulas or characters. And even if you compile as you type, it's still not as fast as writing by hand. You can write formulae by hand using a digitizer, but the experience leaves much to be desired as well.
  - bobthepanda 8y ago
    I believe you and the parent commenter are arguing about orthogonal things; you are arguing that you should be allowed a device that types, while they are arguing against a device that is connected to the Internet within the classroom. You could achieve a middle ground where wi-fi is not enabled in the classroom, so you have to do any online syncing of documents outside the classroom, but even cloud-based word processors like Google Docs allow you to work offline. As far as potentially missing things, I think a thing that has changed is video recording of lectures. I went to a perennially broke mid-tier public university in the US, and all lectures (unless small humanities affairs) were recorded so that you could watch it later, and all the slides were put online. So it was possible to go back and add things to your notes that you may have missed before, and in fact it would be a severe disadvantage to not rewatch lectures since everybody else was doing it. It becomes a lot easier to take handwritten notes once you can rewind and fast forward through lectures at your pleasure.

I didn't get a computer until university. My handwriting was terrible, remained terrible, and my ability to write essays increased dramatically when I was able to do so with a computer.

m0zg 8y ago

Essays, yes, I can see how a computer would help with essay writing. To write well by hand, one has to rewrite them twice: first write notes and fragments, then draft, then edited essay. But I don't know how I'd take notes in science and math if I couldn't quickly write formulae and draw. My handwriting is also terrible, but I could read it, and I would not be academically successful if I wasn't forced to take notes. I'm 100% certain of that. In fact, I've been writing more lately as a part of my studies. Things just seem to "stick" much better if I don't passively record, but either summarize, or embody something in code.

Wowfunhappy 8y ago
I'm glad that works for you, but I don't think it would have worked for me, and you shouldn't presume everyone learns the same way. I took handwritten notes extensively throughout middle school and never really got better at it. I don't have the hand coordination. Learning to type around 8th grade was a revelatory experience, and it had a noticeable impact in my academic performance. Writing, reviewing, note taking, and even just general organization became much easier, and I thus got better at it. I will say, dealing with math symbols on my typewriter-device was always a bit annoying, and I would sometimes write formulas from those classes on a standard notepad. I would hope that nowadays, we have better programs for dealing mathematical notation (in an easy/expedient way).
- m0zg 8y ago
  >> we have better programs for dealing mathematical notation Not that I know of, no. The fastest thing available is LaTeX, and you need to compile to see if the formula came out correctly or not, and you might not know how to encode some of the gnarlier formulas or characters. And even if you compile as you type, it's still not as fast as writing by hand. You can write formulae by hand using a digitizer, but the experience leaves much to be desired as well.
- bobthepanda 8y ago
  I believe you and the parent commenter are arguing about orthogonal things; you are arguing that you should be allowed a device that types, while they are arguing against a device that is connected to the Internet within the classroom. You could achieve a middle ground where wi-fi is not enabled in the classroom, so you have to do any online syncing of documents outside the classroom, but even cloud-based word processors like Google Docs allow you to work offline. As far as potentially missing things, I think a thing that has changed is video recording of lectures. I went to a perennially broke mid-tier public university in the US, and all lectures (unless small humanities affairs) were recorded so that you could watch it later, and all the slides were put online. So it was possible to go back and add things to your notes that you may have missed before, and in fact it would be a severe disadvantage to not rewatch lectures since everybody else was doing it. It becomes a lot easier to take handwritten notes once you can rewind and fast forward through lectures at your pleasure.