Recently took place the WEBDIDACTICA conference "The benefits of handwriting in the age of digital education", which was attended live by more than 2000 people: heads of educational institutions, teachers and parents concerned about what is happening in education.
The event was organised by the Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania (FDVDR) and was the fifth online conference.
Benefits of handwriting discussed by experts
Given the multiple benefits of handwriting, most of the conference participants, teachers and professors expressed their wish for the reintroduction of calligraphy in the school curriculum. The Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania will start working to ensure that handwriting and calligraphy are reintegrated into the curriculum.
Participants had the opportunity to learn relevant information from specialists and experts in technology and psychology such as:
- Dănuț Eremenco, Education Technology Expert,
- Gabriela Maalouf, psychologist,
- Cătălin Anghelache, Neuro Change Practitioner, Psychologies Magazine Romania,
- Alexandra Chiriac, Neurologist at the Emergency Clinical Hospital "Prof. Dr. N. Oblu" in Iasi,
- Petre Crăciun, children's literature writer, journalist.
The integration of traditional writing methods in the digital environment
"We are trying to bridge the gap between handwriting, calligraphy and online. This is possible using a graphics tablet and here we involve a lot of creativity of children and young people. When we write on paper or paint on a canvas or write on a blackboard at school, we don't focus on the object, the writing instrument, we focus on the idea, the act, the vision, the process. This is where we get results, creativity and development are improved", said Danut Eremenco.
According to him, this programme is an attempt to bring the benefits of traditional handwriting into the digital environment, so that the technology that teachers or students use in the classroom or at home is invisible, problem-free and allows for the development and creativity we need.
Benefits of handwriting: Important for the mind
"The benefits of handwriting are multiple mainly in the development of cognitive and motor skills because the language centre is in the left hemisphere of the brain, while images and graphics are in the right hemisphere of the brain and so when we read and then write something we have heard or want to write, we activate the whole brain, which is very important especially in the era when we spend a lot of time in front of screens and we no longer activate all the centres in the brain," said psychologist Gabriela Maaluf.
The expert believes that there are a multitude of activities that stimulate the whole brain and handwriting is one of them.
"At the same time it helps develop language and memory and creativity. Handwriting helps us to identify in time certain emotional imbalances or various other problems such as dyslexia or dysgraphia, oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit," said psychologist Gabriela Maaluf.
The benefits of handwriting: the relationship between mind and movement
"According to Cătălin Anghelache, neurocognitive development through handwriting at school is a topic of major interest today.
"This physical and mental process of handwriting engages specific regions of the brain, stimulating neural connections and developing essential cognitive skills. Through precise hand movements and fine coordination, children develop their memory, abstract thinking, creativity and verbal expression. Handwriting also helps improve concentration, develop motor skills and organize information. All these aspects suggest that handwriting should not be neglected in favour of digital technology, as it plays a significant role in the global and neurocognitive development of school children", added the representative of Psychologies Romania.
Handwriting and its relationship with memory
Dr Alexandra Chiriac conveyed that "handwriting activates the brain's motor, sensory and visual regions, promoting interconnectivity. The coordinated movements required for writing stimulate the cerebellum, basal ganglia and motor cortex. These brain regions collaborate with higher cognitive areas such as the prefrontal cortex, improving cognitive control. Research studies show how the neural connections established through handwriting can have a positive impact on memory and information processing."
Handwriting facilitates connection to the narrative thread
"I write by hand every day, I'm a writer, I only write children's literature by hand. I have a lot of pens and when I write by hand I have to decide which one to use, I have special notebooks that I choose very carefully. For me handwriting is very important, I am one of the writers who has returned to handwriting. I write more easily by hand, I have a direct link with my story, because handwriting gives you time to prepare your narrative thread", Petre Crăciun.
FDVDR partners in the WEBDIDACTICA conference: "The benefits of handwriting in the age of digital education" are: WACOM, Newline, Psychologies Magazine Romania
We invite you to watch the recording of the conference on Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania YouTube channel.
Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania is a non-profit organization that for over 30 years has been developing and implementing educational projects that support, in the medium and long term, the development of Romania.
The mission of the Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania is to promote human and professional values in the technical, scientific, social, economic, educational, cultural and artistic fields.
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