Computers the future but pen still has role

It's often followed by mass ruffling of papers and the sounds of pens scratching against the paper

But that could be a thing of the past, at least at universities.

It was recently revealed that there is a rising numbers of students are doing their exams on computers, rather than completing handwritten papers. It raises the prospect of the death of the pen-and-paper test.

While universities such as Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge are testing the move, both the University Centre Shrewsbury and Harper Adams University say they had not introduced any e-exams, and the chances of a digital overhaul is highly unlikely.

Harper Adams' director of learning and teaching Andy Jones said the key to providing a good education for students is to have a blend of assessments.

"Our approach is a balanced one," he said. "I find it surprising that some universities are moving almost completely from traditional exams. We are not going to be replacing all the traditional exams here.

"There is a place for traditional exams as well as digital elements of assessment and it is important to have that mix. Some students will be confident in a traditional exam, but some will prefer coursework or a digital presentations and it is about giving students the opportunity to shine at different times."

More than 60 per cent of universities have brought in 'e-exam's in at least one or two modules, while one in five have introduced it in entire departments, according to a survey by the Heads of eLearning Forum, a network of academics.

Deterioration

But the move has not been without its problems, one being that students arrive with uncharged laptops.

In one instance, a first-year student began watching a muted wrestling match on screen after the paper was finished, which was distracting for other students.

Peter Furniss is the chairman of the Shropshire Scribes group and a former engineer at the University of Wolverhampton.

"I came into a lot of contact with students during my 20 years at the university," he said. "During my time in the sector I must say I did see a deterioration in writing.

"It wasn't just general presentation, but the forming of sentences, grammar and punctuation use was all left wanting. I would say that a lot of the foreign students were actually better than the English students."

Hobby

Peter, 72, has been interested in calligraphy for about 20 years after a car crash put an abrupt end to his ability to go climbing and mountaineering.

"I decided to start a new hobby," he said.

This hobby saw him leading classes and sessions in the handwritten art.

"I was recently running a session with children, and the problem was that some of them couldn't actually hold a pen properly," he said. "Their pen holds didn't encourage writing, and that should be taught at primary school level.

"They weren't holding the pens in the first and middle fingers and some were using like a fist grip and couldn't really even see the point."

He said it was a shame to see handwriting skills becoming marginalised, especially in education circles, but accepted more and more younger people were going to be adept in digital skills.

John Hall owns Write Here pen retailers in Shrewsbury, and he says he is unconcerned by this move to a more digital approach to exams.

"It made me chuckle to be honest," he said.

"As far as exams are concerned I'm not that fussed – although I suppose it's not great if you're not very good at typing.

"There is a lot of research that shows handwriting is better than a screen for studying. Firstly in terms of comprehension and in terms of retention as well."

Mr Hall doesn't believe that pen and paper would be disappearing just yet.

"Computers and pen and paper have different uses," he said. "It wouldn't be much of an education if if you didn't come out of it knowing and being skilled in how to use a computer. But pen and paper has still got a big future in education.

"We still do a roaring trade in fountain pens amongst school pupils, and some schools still insist on pupils using them."

Hand it to the writers of yesteryear

Wilfred Owen’s reveals his journey of creativity. Thanks to amendments and crossings out, we can see how his famous poem Dulce et Decorum Est took shape, writes Toby Neal.

Charles Darwin used to give particularly long crosses to his, and his notebooks had explanatory doodles.

Then we have Robert Clive, Clive of India, with lots of long strokes, and leaning to the right, which is pretty common, actually.

The common factor? Shropshire teachers. These were all sons of Shropshire who will have been drilled in their handwriting at school, and forced to practice and perfect.

Not forgetting A E Housman, not a child of the county himself but famous for his A Shropshire Lad collection of poems. How does a distinguished scholar write? Rather neatly.

In their day, spanning the 18th to the 20th centuries, handwriting was important – really important, as it was the principal means of distant communication.

Handwriting tells you something about the writer in a way that the uniform dull hand of type does not – apart from whether they can spell and know their grammar.

As we look at the amendments and crossings out of the Great War poet Wilfred Owen, who revisited his drafts and touched them up at different moments, we get an insight into the evolution of his thoughts and his exploration of different words and phrases.

And as we admire flamboyant handwriting full of flourishes, we can imagine the writer and, rightly or wrongly, get an impression of their character – possibly rightly, as handwriting is such a strong connection with the writer that it can be analysed by experts to give evidence in court.

Robert Clive will have used a quill pen. The steel-point pen took off in the Victorian era. Many older Salopians will still remember wooden desks and inkwells, although the inkwells may have given way to direct filling from the bottle.

The decline of handwriting has gone hand in hand with the decline of the pen, the proper nib pen, that is, rather than the cheap and ubiquitous ballpoints in which all strokes are the same. Handwriting was something to be admired.

I remember my history teacher, Mr Thompson, telling my late classmate Ben Carswell, who had beautiful handwriting: “If you write like that in the exams, you will pass anyway.”

I’m not sure if he was proven right.