Studies have found that students’ quality of writing is linked to the individual’s skill in cursive and / or keyboarding skill. If a student has to give too much attention to the mechanics of writing or keyboarding, they won’t have as much for organizing their ideas and composition.
In addition, many of the tools available to assist a student while working on the computer, require keyboarding skills to make them a viable tool.
Schools and parents would be wise to oversee the practice of these skills and support students’ proficiency in one or the other. I would suggest that by upper middle school students focus on keyboarding, as that is what is expected at the high school level and beyond.
