Handwriting Gets an “A+” for Accelerating Learning

With debates raging about the role of AI in schools, it turns out old-fashioned handwriting might be the most powerful tool for learning and retaining knowledge — and especially for early literacy and language development!

Far from being outdated, handwriting is the cognitive powerhouse that deserves to be center stage in our classrooms and homes alike.

Handwriting Stimulates the Brain

Handwriting is not just about putting words on paper—it activates key areas of the brain involved in memory and learning. Research shows that writing by hand stimulates the Reticular Activating System (RAS), a brain network that filters information and helps determine what is important enough to store in memory (Rausch, 2015) . When learners physically form letters and words, their brains engage in multisensory processing—integrating movement, visual feedback, and language simultaneously. This strengthens neural connections in ways that passive listening, typing, or highlighting simply cannot.

Handwriting as a Tool for Literacy and Language Development

For children learning to read and write, handwriting is not just practice—it’s brain training. The process links spoken language, visual symbols, and motor memory, which accelerates literacy acquisition. Handwriting also supports second language learning, making vocabulary “stick” more effectively and aiding recall in conversation (Rausch, 2015). By integrating listening, reading, and speaking with the act of writing, learners strengthen all four language modalities, building a strong foundation for lifelong communication.

Why Handwriting Beats “Just Listening”

Listening is important for comprehension, but on its own, it often leads to fleeting memory. Students who only listen may grasp ideas in the moment but struggle to retain details later. By contrast, writing down what they hear forces learners to process the information, rephrase it in their own words, and reinforce it through physical activity. Studies show that handwriting improves long-term recall because the learner is actively constructing meaning, not just receiving it (Smoker, Murphy, & Rockwell, 2009).

Why Handwriting is Stronger than Highlighting

Highlighting can feel productive, but research shows it is one of the least effective study strategies because it promotes shallow engagement (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Highlighting marks what stands out but doesn’t require the brain to do the heavy lifting of making sense of the text. By contrast, handwriting requires learners to summarize, reframe, and select key details in their own words. This act of “generation” builds deeper understanding, vocabulary retention, and literacy skills. For young readers and language learners, handwriting letters and words is also essential to mapping sounds to symbols—an early literacy foundation that highlighting cannot provide.

Why Handwriting Outperforms Typing

Typing may feel faster, but it often leads to verbatim transcription, which does not support critical thinking or memory in the same way as handwriting. Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) found that students who take notes by hand perform better on conceptual questions than those who type, precisely because handwriting requires more processing. For early literacy learners, forming each letter by hand cements orthographic knowledge (letter shapes), phonemic awareness (sounds of language), and vocabulary recall. Handwriting slows the learner down in a good way, deepening engagement with both the form and meaning of language.

So, while listening, highlighting, and typing all play supporting roles, handwriting remains the most powerful tool for reinforcing information and accelerating literacy and language development among all learners!

Cynthia Harrison Barbera

Cynthia Harrison Barbera is President and CEO, StoryWorld International. She served as VP Educational Technology for Scholastic and is the recipient of two US Presidential awards for educational programs. An Emmy-award winner for a television series on education, she has taught English to native-speakers and ELL students in the US and overseas.

References:

- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
- Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159–1168.
- Rausch, P. (2015). The relationship between English speaking and writing proficiency and its implications for instruction. St. Cloud State University.
Smoker, T. J., Murphy, C. E., & Rockwell, T. (2009). Comparing memory for handwriting versus typing. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 53(22), 1744–1747.