Is the Pen Mightier than the Laptop? Digital Natives and Their Preferred Writing Tools

Abstract

Students in a course on the History of Writing investigated traditional, college-aged students and their preferred writing implements. Digital Natives—people born after 1980 who grew up with technology—are assumed to prefer digital writing implements such as computers, tablets, and Smartphones. We recognize that the term “digital native” may be outdated, but we chose to include it in our research because it was a central term in the questions asked to participants. Do they really tend to use digital implements, or do they use analog instruments such as pens and pencils? To find out, the researchers designed a Qualtrics survey to ask students about their use of digital and analog writing tools. A second data source were essays on the topic “My Favorite Writing Implement,” which were analyzed on a spreadsheet, counting each instance of tools noted, ranging from digital to analog, from tablets to gel pens. Participants were enrolled in two university classes: one lower-division and one upper-division. Their majors ranged across all colleges. Through a review of the literature, the researchers found that a trend exists toward Gen-Z using analog writing tools. Some steer clear of digital altogether. David Sax notes in The Revenge of Analog that analog offers “real and tangible experiences” that are tactile.