Nowadays, it is common for children’s classrooms to have digital resources to be used as tools for certain learning processes. For example, there are computer programs geared toward children who are learning to read and write. Since the exercises that they propose are to be done on computer, the students press keys and buttons, and do away with pencil and paper.
To measure the impact of these typing-based methods, a UPV/EHU study has made a comparison to analyze the effects of manual and keyboard training on children’s skills. The work appears in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
“As children write less and less by hand, we wanted to explore the impact of this on alphabetic and orthographic skills. In other words, we wanted to see whether the ability to learn letters and to assimilate and remember word structure develops differently through manual training or the use of keyboards. We concluded that the children who used their hands obtained the best results,” explained researcher Joana Acha.
To reach this conclusion, an experiment was conducted with 5 to 6-year-olds. This age was chosen because it is the most favorable moment in their development. This is in fact when children begin to acquire the ability to read and write. Fifty children with basic reading comprehension were taught nine letters from the Georgian and Armenian alphabets, as well as 16 pseudowords invented by researchers through combining the letters.
“The aim was to use letters and words that were completely new to the children to make sure they were learning from scratch. In fact, the studies carried out so far used the alphabets in the children’s culture, so it is not so easy to find out the extent to which they did not know the symbols presented,” said Acha.
Therefore, all the students were taught new letters and words, but not all in the same way. Half of them were asked to copy them by hand and the other half with keyboards. That way, the study was able to focus on the importance of the graphomotor function. In other words, the effect moving the hand will have on the reading and writing process. In fact, when we write on keyboards we do not trace the shape of the letter, and so the graphomotor function exerts less influence when it comes to assimilating letter and word structure. By contrast, writing by hand exerts a greater influence.
“Once we had taught each group of children the new letters and words and trained them using one method, we submitted them to three tests to assess the knowledge acquired. We measured their ability to identify, write and pronounce both the letters and the pseudowords, and the results clearly indicated that those who had practiced manually developed greater skill.
In particular, the difference was clear with the pseudowords; almost everyone who had learned on computer did not complete the exercises on letter sequences correctly. So our work confirms that the graphomotor function is essential in memorizing letters and word structures,” explained Acha.
Variability also exerts an influence
However, the team did not look at the impact of the degree of hand movement alone. The groups who were working by hand and with keyboards were divided into two subgroups from the start. During the teaching of the letters and the words, among those who were working with pencils, some were asked to follow the guides marked with small dots (technique of low variability). The others, by contrast, practiced without any reference at all: copying freely on to the blank page (great variability).
The researchers did the same with those who were working on computer: some always used the same font for training (e.g. Tahoma), and others, more than one. That way, the researchers were able to analyze the influence of the shape variability factor in addition to the grapho-motor function.
What they saw was that all those who had been trained by hand were more competent than all those who had worked with keyboards, but even among those who had practiced with pencil and paper, there were differences. Those who had been trained freely obtained the best results.
“So we concluded that while it helps children to have to trace in order to practice at first, once they’re able to make more or less small, precise movements, it’s advisable to move on to free writing. However, what is most clear is the need to prioritize manual practice in the learning processes. They learn best from hand movements and so technological devices should only be used in a complementary way,” said Acha.
More information:
Gorka Ibaibarriaga et al, The impact of handwriting and typing practice in children’s letter and word learning: Implications for literacy development, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106195
Provided by
University of the Basque Country
Citation:
Children’s reading and writing develop better when they are trained in handwriting, study finds (2025, April 30)
