Pen or keyboard in beginning writing instruction? Some perspectives from embodied cognition

Abstract

Reading and writing are increasingly digitized at all levels of education, and in beginning writing instruction, children are often introduced to writing by using keyboards rather than by pen-and-paper handwriting. The short-term and long-term cognitive, educational and socio-cultural implications of such a transition are largely unknown. In this article, we discuss some urgent questions relating to the ongoing marginalization of handwriting. By reference to extant research particularly addressing the motor component of writing, and drawing on key theoretical insights of embodied cognition, we address the role of the material affordances and sensorimotor contingencies of keyboards and handwriting implements in the development of basic writing skills.