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Australian students spend more time learning to write on paper than computers – does this need to change?

Friday, 15 May 2026

Australian students spend years learning handwriting, yet many receive little formal instruction in writing on computers. Researchers, Anabela Malpique and  Deborah Pino Pasternak say digital writing skills are now essential for school, study and work, and classrooms need to catch up.

The writing is on the wall — Are kids ditching pens for keyboards?

Friday, 15 May 2026

A nation-wide study of more than 500 Australian primary school students in Year 2 has revealed whether beginner writers' attitude and motivation towards both handwriting and keyboarding can be a major predictor of the quality of their writing.

Are primary students prepared to write in a digital world?

Friday, 15 May 2026

A nation-wide study on computer-based writing instruction in Australian classrooms has revealed that although primary school teachers found it was important to teach computer-based writing skills, most allocate less than one hour per week to the practice.

Write at the start, all kids need to keyboard

Friday, 22 November 2024

In Australia, children are expected to develop computer-based writing skills as soon as they start schooling yet the writing performance of students is plateauing or even declining. Across the globe, results from national standardised tests show a large percentage of students writing at or below basic proficiency. That includes Australia.

Handwriting fluency in kindergarten linked to better reading abilities

Friday, 22 November 2024

Children who handwrite fluently in their first year of school are likely to be better readers a year later, prompting researchers to urge caution about relying too heavily on technology in the classroom.

In these pandemic school days handwriting still matters!

Friday, 22 November 2024

During the last 1000 years handwriting has been the prevalent mode of writing. In today’s increasingly digital world, writing is changing as fast as we exchange emails, texts and tweets.

Most students’ writing skills on the decline, but spelling improving

Friday, 22 November 2024

The writing skills of Australia’s school students have declined over 7 years, with spelling the only metric to buck the trend, new research from the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) has found.

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