Why educators are rethinking the importance of handwriting

How good is your handwriting? And did you ever learn cursive writing?

Times have certainly changed in our classrooms, the part-replacement of pens and pencils with keyboards has seen our educators have a rethink on the importance of handwriting.

Some Australian schools now have the option to type the writing response in the Naplan test.

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Students sit the NAPLAN test according to the format in which their school conducts their NAPLAN testing - either online or by paper.

But for year 3 students, the NAPLAN writing test is not online and is done with pen and paper only - regardless of whether the school is doing NAPLAN on paper or online.

All schools will gradually transition from the current paper-based tests to the computer-based assessments, with the aim being for all schools to undertake NAPLAN online by 2022.

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Deputy Principal of Waverly College in Sydney told A Current Affair the "education revolution" has reinforced the need for balanced learning.

"You know, it did get crazy when that first happened and we were all about promoting the technology in our classrooms," Deputy Principal Gabrielle Smith said.

"While the HSC (NSW final year exam) is still handwritten that's another reason why our students need to be able to write - there is feedback from the markers that some writing is hard to read."

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All state schools in NSW, at least, are meant to explicitly teach handwriting from Kindergarten to year 10.

"The development of skills to handwrite legibly, fluently and for extended periods is mandatory within the NSW curriculum starting from Kindergarten, as is the development of skills for using digital technology," a NSW Education Standards Authority spokesperson said.

But is the skill of handwriting still worth the paper it's written on?

Retirees at Leppington's Antegra Estate are the first to acknowledge most things are easier on a computer.