The Research
Learn By Hand is not a hot take. Every claim we make about handwriting and learning is backed by peer-reviewed research from neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education. Below are the studies we most often point parents and teachers toward. Short summaries now, deeper summaries coming soon.
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard
Mueller & Oppenheimer (2014) · Psychological Science, Princeton & UCLA
Students who took notes by hand on paper outperformed students who took notes on laptops on conceptual questions, even when content was held constant. The act of longhand writing forces deeper processing.
The Effects of Handwriting Experience on Functional Brain Development
James & Engelhardt (2012) · Trends in Neuroscience and Education, Indiana University
Brain imaging study showing that pre-literate children who practice printing letters by hand show adult-like activation in reading circuits that children who only see or type letters do not.
The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting for Learning in the Classroom
Askvik, van der Weel & van der Meer (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
EEG study showing that handwriting and drawing produce brain connectivity patterns critical for learning, memory formation, and encoding of new information. Keyboard use does not produce the same patterns.
The Influence of Writing Practice on Letter Recognition in Preschool Children
Longcamp, Zerbato-Poudou & Velay (2005) · Acta Psychologica
Children who learned letters by writing them by hand recognized the letters more accurately afterward than children who learned the same letters by typing them on a keyboard.
Media and Young Minds
American Academy of Pediatrics · AAP Policy Statement
The AAP recommends limiting screen time for young children and emphasizes that unstructured, hands-on play and direct human interaction are more beneficial for cognitive and emotional development than screen-based media.
Study summaries and additional references coming soon. If you have research you think we should feature, please get in touch.