![]() ![]() The new study set out to answer two questions. The potential benefits of handwriting for learning and memory have been debated for some time. Then, key words can be “interlinked by boxes, and arrows, and supplemented by small drawings.” Van der Meer also points out that taking notes by hand stimulates “visual notetaking.” Rather than typing blindly, the visual notetaker has to think about what is important to write down. So learning through only one format - digital - could be harmful, she worries. All of this uses and connects more areas of the brain.Īlong the way, these processes appear to “open the brain up for learning,” says Van der Meer. And we need to control our hands to press a pen or pencil to shape the different letters. We also need to use our eyes to watch what shapes we’re writing. In contrast, when we write, our brain needs to think about and retrieve memories of the shape of each letter. The same movement is required to type each letter on a keyboard. The increased brain activity, “gives the brain more ‘hooks’ to hang your memories on,” she explains. This is because writing and printing involve intricate movements that activate more areas of the brain. Using a pen, or a digital stylus, involves more of the brain than using a keyboard, her new findings show. She works at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Van der Meer is a neuropsychologist, someone who measures brain activity to better understand learning and behaviors. She believes that “young children should learn to write by hand successfully, and, at the same time learn to manage a keyboard.” The human brain has evolved to interact with the world in as many ways as possible, she notes. “Some schools in Norway have become completely digital,” notes Audrey van der Meer, the new study’s leader. The idea is that typing may be easier for young children. These are findings of a new study.Īs digital devices have taken over society, “keyboard activity is now often recommended as a substitute for early handwriting,” a new study notes. ![]() Although computer technology is often necessary today, using a pen or pencil activates more areas of your brain than a keyboard does. Another useful skill, that's often not within the remit.You can improve learning - and potentially remember more - by handwriting your class notes. ![]() Sort of improvisation on the spot - busking, if you like. Well done! I'd take it even further, and encourage you to play something, then want you to continue in the same vein, without the music, and before you've memorised it. So, yes, your teacher is providing great bases for you and your playing. It also means that you, as a performer, can be more than someone whose head is stuck in the music - you can interact with the audience (or even those playing with you) which is all but impossible when sight-reading for the first time, however well you do it. It paid off for me on several occasions when my stand was knocked over, or the wind blew the charts all over the place. With some people, this happens as a natural course. Others will take time learning something, and be able to play it from memory. Some musos earn good money using that particular skill - in recording studios, for example, where time is expensive. There are times when being able to play something accurately (and musically) straight from the dots is what's needed. As topo says, both are excellent skills to have. ![]()
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