Cursive is back. But should students still be learning this skill? Shawn Datchuk, a professor of special education in the University of Iowa College of Education, says the answer isn’t necessarily black and white.
In a recent interview with NPR, Datchuk weighed in on the significance of learning cursive, including the importance of students becoming multi-modal.
The following excerpt is from the article as published by NPR:
“Much of the cursive debate centers around time in the classroom. Should educators spend precious minutes teaching another way to write on paper when technology is so prevalent?
Shawn Datchuk, a professor of special education at the University of Iowa, said the answer does not have to be one or the other. In his college classroom, he sees students increasingly using tablets and a stylus to take notes.
‘What that means is that as a country, we likely need to help our students become multi-modal,’ Datchuk said. They need to not only be able to handwrite using print, but also use cursive, type, and interact with technology, he said.”