Notes
Blood, Sweat, Tears: A Case for Handwriting Papers in the Digital Age
Ashley Webb
As I navigated the impossibly difficult world of first-year teaching, I thought I had at least one thing figured out: that it was best practice to use technology in the classroom whenever possible. My many teaching classes in college had encouraged it—technology was the language this generation spoke after all, so how could you keep their attention and get them to learn without it? I felt a little skeptical, since I tend to prefer writing things by hand, but I figured it was better to do what I had learned instead of testing my unproven theories.
Very quickly, though, I realized this was not the case. Sure, my students liked working with technology for some things, but more often I heard the same request. “Can I do it on paper instead?” I couldn’t come up with a reason, so I printed off copies of assignments. I allowed handwritten in-class essays. I gave them physical study guides. As the year progressed, I realized that my “digital native” students preferred to work on paper, and actually did better work when they did so.
Okay, then, I thought as I gathered all this evidence during my reflection of my first year. I can work with that. Fast forward several years, and the option to work on paper is always present in my classroom. Using their laptops is an exception rather than the rule. My plea for teachers is this: do not feel that the only way for students to write is on their computers. Instead, use handwriting to help students embracing the glorious chaos that is writing.
The Physical and Cognitive Benefits of Handwriting
It is widely accepted that it is better for students to handwrite their notes rather than type them. Handwriting notes during a lesson or lecture leads to “better conceptual understanding of material,” and handwriting also dramatically improves overall literacy thanks to a higher recognition of words and letters (Lambert). This is because handwriting is an incredibly complicated task to effectively accomplish. It requires precise motor control and coordination as well as a deep cognitive understanding of language and its relationship to the words being formed. Neuroscientist Marieke Longcamp explains in an article from NPR that “handwriting is probably among the most complex motor skills that the brain is capable of.” But beyond that, handwriting creates associations between what one sees and what one hears, which is an extremely important part of learning to read and write effectively.
Handwriting also forces the brain to slow down and focus on the given task, in part because of handwriting’s complexity. In an age where it is increasingly difficult to keep our students focused on a task and move beyond surface level thinking, that is a valuable thing. Social media and short-form content has literally started to rewire our students’ brains. Our students are now “better at scanning for information and retrieving information, but they are less able to concentrate deeply” (Carter and Matzke 321).The removal of technology—or at least the avoidance of it—in the classroom is one way to help with this struggle. When I asked my students why they preferred handwriting to typing, this was one of the most commonly cited reasons. They explained that they really did want to write well, and they found the computer too distracting. It was too easy for them to get off task or not fully think about the answers they were writing. But, they said, they could write better responses in much less time if they wrote it on paper.
The Behavioral and Educational Benefits of Handwriting
Beyond memory and focus, though, there are other reasons why I believe we should utilize handwriting more in the English classroom. Any time I catch a student plagiarizing or using unauthorized AI on an assignment, I ask that student why. The overwhelming majority cite fear of failing as the reason. “I’m not a very good writer, and AI can write something better than I ever could, so why wouldn’t I cheat?” one student explained to me, shame-faced. Another said that he had procrastinated because he couldn’t come up with a perfect introduction and had then used AI in order to get the assignment done on time. Fear of failing and the desire to create “good writing” is a crippling condition for many students. They want to create a perfect, highly polished essay on their first attempt—a feat that is functionally impossible for all but a lucky few. And though we as teachers try to structure out their writing, break it into chunks and try to show students that writing is a process and not a product, that fear and insecurity remains. Eventually, it grows to a point where they can’t take it anymore, and they cheat.
Handwriting is messier than typing. It never looks as neat, and it’s a lot harder to go back and change something once you’ve written it down. Because of that, it is a helpful tool for getting students to move past this mindset. It encourages students to get their ideas written down on paper rather than getting them ‘right.’ Usually, the result is something better than they expected, and the initial hurdle has been crossed.
Another problem with focusing on using technology for everything in the classroom is, of course, that students never seem to stay on task while using their computers. No matter what controls districts place, students still find ways to play and get off task. For many students, their computers are closer to a second smart phone than a tool for work, and this is reflected in their inability to stay focused while using them for school work. The Center for Internet & Technology Addiction found that in 2024, nearly 60% of teens showed signs of cell phone addiction, feeling compelled to check their phones whenever they receive a notification (Marais). Since school laptops have nearly all of the same capabilities, this only fuels students’ struggle with self-regulation surrounding technology. One way to help students learn this self-regulation is to limit the time they spend on these devices, keeping it to highly specific and focused tasks whenever possible. While this is a complex issue that extends far beyond the scope of the classroom, structuring time to help students be more productive in their work is a small way to help. Encouraging them to write work by hand rather than solely online is another.
Write on Paper and Embrace the Chaos
Despite all these benefits, there is one main reason why teachers will never fully get rid of technology in their classrooms: efficiency. It is undeniably faster and more convenient to type long-form essays (particularly those with research) than to handwrite them. I also acknowledge that we have a responsibility to familiarize our students with technology, since it is so heavily integrated into nearly every modern workplace. But the efficiency argument doesn’t hold up, in my opinion.
Teachers are being told to teach faster and faster to cater to our students’ apparently decreasing attention spans. But why should we make allowances for something that we openly recognize as a serious challenge to this generation? Shouldn’t we as teachers be searching for ways to force our students to slow down and focus deeply on the task at hand? And in that case, isn’t the fact that handwriting a paper takes longer than typing an advantage?
The demand for efficiency means that most teachers give one or two days to outline and research, several days to type their drafts, maybe one class period to revise, edit, and turn in the paper. There isn’t anything actually wrong with this process, but it does impart to students that revision and editing are largely the same thing, and therefore the first “draft” should in essence be a nearly perfect and 100% complete paper. Students (and much of society in general) is terrified of failure, and their views on writing in the classroom reflect that. Anyone who writes on a professional level can tell you that this is not at all the correct balance. Allison D. Carr explains in Bad Ideas About Writing that closing off the ability to fail as a writer removes “permission to make a mess, to throw something away, to try thirty different ideas instead of toiling away on one” (79). I certainly agree with this sentiment. The revision process usually takes me just as long as writing the rough draft, often much longer if the piece is particularly long. Teachers know this, and want to show this to their students, but it is an incredibly difficult task.
Here is a recommendation, pulled from my Senior English classroom after several years’ trial and error: have students write their rough drafts on paper. It can be messy. It can be out of order. It can have crossed out sentences or paragraphs when you had an epiphany. It can even be shorter than what the assignment calls for. The important thing is for students to get all of their ideas out on paper in semi-coherent sentences and paragraphs—to try things and fail, and therefore become more comfortable with the idea. I usually have my students gather evidence throughout the reading of a text and gathering it into a common document, thus minimizing the amount of research or rereading necessary during the drafting process. In fact, I tell them not to do additional research at this point. Instead, they can simply write in their drafts that they would like more research in this paragraph, and their peers can give them suggestions during feedback.
Once their terrible and messy first drafts are complete, they can move on to that terrifying task called revision. Students, I have found, are much more intentional and thoughtful with their feedback when it is written on paper. Rather than Google Doc comments or pre-determined checklists, let students underline and write in the margins. Let them give suggestions for points or evidence to add that would improve their arguments. Let them circle things they love, let their feedback be messy and chaotic. Sometimes, I’ve even told students to cut the papers into pieces if they think that they would make better sense in a different order. The result is some level of chaos, yes. But writing is chaotic and messy, and anything that helps students move past their crippling fear of failure and into active revision is worth trying.
After a draft and revision, I have my students type their final drafts. I hear your shock. What? Didn’t you say they should actually handwrite the papers? Yes, but the purpose of the handwriting is to help my students process their thoughts and make meaningful revisions to their work. It is not to veto technology entirely. While I avoid technology where possible, I also accept that it would be irresponsible of me as their teacher to not have them actually create the types of finalized papers expected of them in college. The cognitive tasks I needed them to accomplish are through, and now comes the much simpler task of typing out what they have already written, adding new evidence or ideas when needed, polishing it and creating a finalized product that they are proud of (and yes, is much easier for me to grade).
A Final Defense
Our students spend more and more of their time online, where they are urged to move faster and faster, to not think deeply and cut corners in the name of getting something done. They know this, and many of them are actually searching for ways to learn and think more deeply beyond the bounds of technology. Handwriting forces students to slow down and create writing with their own two hands, to become aware of their own thinking and understand the content.
I understand that technology does make our jobs as teachers easier, and it is not realistic nor best practice to remove it entirely. But taking deliberate steps to encourage students to write more by hand will help improve students’ writing skills, as well as help with AI use plagiarism. The next time you feel frustrated with your students’ papers, instead of looking for another online tool to help, consider going the opposite direction. Help them embrace the fact that failure is essential to writing, that writing is difficult and messy but so, so rewarding. You will be amazed at the results.
Works Cited
Carr, Allison D. “Failure Is Not An Option.” Bad Ideas About Writing, by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe, edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe, Digital Publishing Institute, 2017, pp. 76-81. Accessed 31 July 2025.
Carter, Genesea M., and Aurora Matzke. “The More Digital Technology, the Better.” Bad Ideas About Writing, by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe, edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe, Digital Publishing Institute, 2017, pp. 320-324. Accessed 31 July 2025.
Lambert, Jonathan. “Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning.” NPR, 11 May 2024, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/11/1250529661/handwriting-cursive-typing-schools-learning-brain. Accessed 31 July 2025.
Marais, Saya D. “Technology Addiction Statistics 2024.” The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, 2025, https://virtual-addiction.com/technology-addiction-statistics-2024/. Accessed 2025.
Licensing
Copyright Ashley Webb, 2025. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.