A lost skill !

About the end of the second world war the BIC ball point pen burst upon the world.   This was the " wonder pen " that was said to be able to write under water and initially they were very expensive. Traditionalists howled with rage and claimed that the demise of pens with nibs and ink wells would doom calligraphy to meaningless scrawl - and initially the banks refused to accept cheques written with ball point pens.  They claimed that the lasting quality of the ink was unknown and feared it could fade away over time.

Of course this new innovation quickly found a ready market and the price dropped sharply.  Today a single dollar buys a clutch of ball point pens at the markets and the better class shops offer premium models.   They are very much a " throw away " item, but they are also responsible for the major portion of all writing on paper that occurs in every country on this planet.   If anything could be said to be " ubiquitous " - it would be the ball point pen.

It seems that the wheel turns full circle.    The development of the computer put a new tool in busy hands - and that was the keyboard.   The ball point pen has been reduced to jotting  down short notes.   Any meaningful length of communication can be handled faster on a keyboard - and that keyboard has shrunk in size to fit on Smartphones - and the world has learned to communicate at really high speed.

We are now finding that this ever present change is intruding on the tasks that remain static.    Today's kids have a personal computer in their hands in the classroom and the Smartphone has become as ubiquitous as the ball point pen used to be.   Note taking is by keyboard - and yet when we sit for the Higher School Certificate, these three hour tests are required to be taken using pen and paper.

The end result is very distressed students, suffering wrist strain from this long past communication method.   Many are finding it impossible to match the speed possible on a keyboard by using a pen, and consequently their test scores fall short because of this speed difficulty.   It is hard to present the best results if constant fatigue and wrist cramps impede progress.    It is very much a case of the past failing to meet the needs of the present.   A new approach is very necessary.

The world has gone online.    When we apply for a driving license the test regimen is on screen and an increasing volume of applications have devolved from the old pen and paper routine.   The practice of herding great numbers of students into a big hall, sitting them at desks far apart to deter cheating - and requiring a laborious pen and paper answer to a questionnaire no longer fits the bill.   Lengthy writing with a pen is becoming a lost skill.

Opposition to change to meet the present circumstances is almost as amusing as the rejections that the ball point pen once faced !