There is no clacking of keyboards in most classrooms at the Mary Erskine and Stewart’s Melville Junior School, although there is a full range of facilities for computer lessons and technology isn’t being ignored.
But the private school’s principal believes the old-fashioned pens have helped boost the academic performance and self-esteem of his 1,200 pupils. —School shuns tech, teaches fountain pen (Yahoo! | Reuters (will expire))
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Dennis G. Jerz,
you are absolutely right!
I am not sure how many people relish using a fountain pen these days. I, for one, am such a person. I (re)started using a Pelikan M800 few months ago, after my better half got me this pen for my birthday and I found it a sheer joy using what we used to call ‘ink pen’. Sad thing is that these days, I seldom get to write anything and as a result, my handwriting has deteriorated considerably. Now, I make it a point to write at least few lines of crap just to relive the good old school days when we used to return home with fingers painted blue.
I was at an information literacy conference a few years ago, and I was impressed when the teacher of a new media class said that he passed out animal skins that students were to use in order to write their final project on it. The idea is to remind students that in the past, writing was a one-shot deal. You couldn’t start five different ideas at once and abandon the ones that aren’t working; you had to think carefully about how you would use your limited resources. I’m considering doing something similar (only with a single sheet of felt or mylar, since I’m not the trapping-and-skinning type).
My theory is that students have so little practical need to limit resources such as paper, ink, storage space, and access to information, that they have very little experience to help them manage their time.
I don’t make this comment as a Luddite, but MJHS offers an interesting and refreshing idea. One of the things I enjoy about writing on paper (when I draft–and sometimes revise–this way) is its slowness. This is particularly true in the times when I use one of my fountain pens. I should also add, however, that I compose and revise (more often revise) at the keyboard. While I wouldn’t suggest (C&W folks fear not) that we abandon our class blogs, wikis, and other tech- enhanced writing classrooms, it is a useful reminder that slow writing (like slow food and slow cites) may have its place.