Gen Z doesn’t know how to use a keyboard — and using their phones to write school papers
The tech-savvy generation is losing their touch.
Gen Z’s typing proficiency is reportedly dwindling as young people adapt to touch screens, with keyboarding falling to the wayside — just like writing in cursive.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some high schoolers are more adept at typing on their iPads — with one 18-year-old writing an 8-page paper on one such device — or smartphones, rather than a traditional keyboard.
In fact, many Zoomers still have to watch their fingers while typing to ensure they hit the right keys because they claim to have never learned to type in grade school, just like Billie Eilish, who told Rolling Stone she now has “regret” about never learning.
College-bound Rueben Tasler, 17, says he is trying to teach himself to type before arriving on campus.
“Maybe once I learn to type I’ll look back and wish I’d learned sooner,” Tasler told the Journal. “I know it’ll be more efficient — then I could look down at the keyboard-less often.”
Today’s reality is a far cry from that just almost 25 years ago. In 2000, The Journal reported, citing the US Department of Education, 44% of high school graduates completed a course in keyboarding, but in 2019, that number was only 2.5%.
Meanwhile, Canvas, a learning management system, reported that 39% of assignments submitted through the platform were not uploaded from a computer, but rather, a mobile device, per the Journal.
Experts alarmed by the shift in keyboarding savvy and reliance on handheld devices warn that students’ grades could suffer as a result, urging institutions to place more emphasis on typing as standardized exams go digital.
“Students will have higher test scores when they don’t have to think about how to type and can think about the content they are creating,” Tim Dikun, COO at Teaching.com, told The Journal.
Dr. Per Ola Kristensson, who co-authored a 2019 study about generational keyboarding skills and speeds, is skeptical about the root cause of lacking keyboard savvy.
At the time of his research, the speed of touch screen typing was gaining on traditional computers, with participants typing about 70% as fast on mobile devices compared to computer keyboards.
Practice is “key” to mastering typing, the University of Cambridge professor told Daily Mail, and with young people spending more time on touch screens, they’re spending “less time typing on physical keyboards.”
While he’s less concerned with the speed at which people type, he fears that the increased reliance on smart devices will degrade the way young people communicate.
“I suspect auto-correct and generative AI are more likely to have a deteriorating effect on the ability to write,” he told Daily Mail.
However, Those who know how to type well are part of an exclusive — and shrinking — club.
Sofia Strandy, a daughter of a Typing.com employee, has been honing her typing skills for years. Little do her classmates know, the 16-year-old can now type 95 words per minute.
“It feels like I have access to secret knowledge,” she told The Journal.
