CobWeb-a Handwriting Recognition Based Writing Environment for Children

This paper describes work that has investigated the usability of handwriting recognition technology for writing with children. The results show that for the age group considered, writing at the tablet was quite efficient, and children were able to write reasonable stories. Some of the key usability problems with the handwriting recognition technology are described and a discussion of possible future trends in digital writing is presented. Overview Introduction The Writing Process In the UK classroom, children spend between 30% and 60% of their school classroom time doing writing activities (McHale & Cermak, 1992). The freedom afforded to the child during the writing activity ranges from the rote copying of text to completely free, creative, text production. Most writing falls between these extremes, and involves composition work in response to some stimulus. The early parts of this process are described in Figure 1, which outlines the multiple processes that children have to deal with to produce written text. Figure 1 The Process of Composition In this diagram, the writing process is broken into three stages: The first, A, is largely psychological, whereas B and C are more concerned with the physical processes of writing. These latter two stages are labelled separately as if the ‘writing’ were to only exist in an audio format (and this is an interesting option that is not further explored in this paper) process B would not be required. During any of these three stages, the child may encounter difficulties. Spelling and punctuation are particularly difficult and in order for children to eventually have a ‘nice’ piece of work multiple revisions are sometimes required. These revisions include spelling changes, the insertion of missed words, and sometimes, but less commonly, rearrangements of phrases. It is usual for children to limit themselves to revisions that will not ‘mess up’ their work too much. As the revision process is difficult, it can sometimes happen that a child begins a correction, only to forget what he was going to write by the time he has finished with the eraser (Swanson & Berninger, 1996). Using Computers to Support the Writing Process There is widespread support in the education system for the use of electronic tools to assist children in writing. Researchers at Newcastle have identified three benefits that computers and their associated technology can bring to literacy (Moseley et al., 1999); ♦ The capacity to present or represent ideas dynamically or in multiple forms ♦ The facility for providing feedback to pupils as they are working ♦ The capacity to present information in easily changed forms Software that is commonly used to support writing in the classroom is generally either instructional (educational) or functional (enabling). Spelling instruction and grammar testing software fall into the first category whilst web development tools, desktop publishing and word processors fall into the second. One feature that is shared amongst the functional applications is that the work that is produced can be made to look good. This can motivate young writers but can also result in children becoming more concerned about the visual attractiveness of their text than the quality of the writing that it represents (Day, 1994). The single most used functional software product for writing is the word processor. There are many word processors that are designed especially for children and these have different means to help children accomplish the three stages described in Figure 1. Different software (Figure 2 and Figure 3) supports the planning phase of the writing process with the opportunity for children to arrange their plots and make notes about what will be placed in each section before they start to compose. Figure 2 Clicker® Software Figure 3 Planning Pages from CoWriter® A popular writing package in English Schools is WriteOn® for Windows. This can be found in many infant classrooms and it incorporates a word bank, attractive fonts and a colourful interface. The interface for the second level (there are four levels so that the software can be customised with respect to the age of the child) of this package is shown in Figure 4. The word bank simplifies the text input process as the child does not need to type out the words but can simply select them using a mouse. Figure 4 Write On® for Windows A further example of this approach to text input is shown in Figure 5 that shows the word bank from Clicker® Software. Figure 5 Clicker Word Processing Software How useful is Word Processing Software for beginning writers? There has been considerable research on the use of word processing in the primary classroom, however some of this research is contradictory. Some of the studies have only small cohorts and the additional features that certain word processors offer can affect reported results; one such example is work by (Beck & Fetherston, 2003) that made claims for the effectiveness of word processing but had only seven children and the word processing included many features including drawing and story starters. Research has suggested that word processors can be useful tools for children learning to write (Cochran-Smith, 1991), (Zbikowski & Pan, 1995). A study by (Jones & Pellegrini, 1996) concluded that children wrote more cohesively at the word processor than when using pen and paper; observational work by (Fisher, 1994) showed that children could compose work together at the computer and during this, their talk was task focused and cooperative. Papert (1980) suggests that a computer with word processing software affords the child the luxury of being able to revise and rework their ideas, and therefore becomes a powerful intellectual product. However, this argument is countered by research findings that suggest that with young children; revision of work is unusual with inexperienced writers generally only revising their work if prompted and even then, they will often only make word changes, rather than carrying out substantial rewrites (Monahan, 1984), (Hult, 1986). Using the Keyboard to enter text For children to be able to use the features that text or word processing allows on a computer, they have to first get their work into the computer. This can be done indirectly, by using scanning technology, or directly by the child, or some other person. Direct text entry is usually carried out using the alphabetic keyboard and the process that is associated with this is generally referred to as typing or keyboarding (this is less often used as it confuses the actions on an alphabetic keyboard with those on a musical keyboard). Alphabetic keyboards can be presented in different ways; the two most common are the QWERTY keyboard and the Dvorak keyboard. There is a range of specialist keyboards, known as concept keyboards, which have been specially designed for use with young children and with disabled adults. These keyboards are generally non-alphabetic, using pictures to depict actions or words. The process of typing can be broken into five phases, these are, character recognition, storage, motor activity, keystroke and feedback (Cooper, 1983). Each of these phases presents difficulties for children. Character recognition is the process of recognising the letter on the keyboard, sometimes difficult for children due to the tendency to use upper case representations. Storage refers to the ability of the typist to be able to read ahead – possibly four to eight characters at a time; this is reduced for children who do not have the same ability and knowledge with the keyboard. The motor activity is the movement of the fingers to the keys, which will be slower for children as their hands are smaller and therefore they have to make larger gross motor movements than adults. The keystroke is the pressure needed to press the key and feedback refers to the realisation that the correct character has been inputted which is essential for error detection and correction. It is possible to become quite skilled at the keyboard; but many people, and particularly children find typing difficult (Norman & Fisher, 1982). Recent advances in technology allow handwritten text to be input into a computer where it is then turned into digitized, ASCII text, such as that that is manipulated in word processing software. This is the technology that is explored in the remainder of the paper. Handwriting for Text Input Development of Handwriting Handwriting is the term used to describe the formation of the letters or words of a language by an individual. Handwriting competence is measured by the legibility of the resulting work and the attainment of a reasonable speed. People are often judged by their handwriting, and it is not unusual for a child with poor handwriting to develop a poor self-image (Sassoon, 1990). Handwriting may be ‘printed’ (discrete) or ‘joined up’ (cursive). It has been traditionally the case that English school children learnt to write using discrete writing and then moved onto cursive writing at aged around eight or nine. There is considerable support in the writing community for a change to this pattern, with many writers suggesting that children should use cursive script at a much younger age (Nicholson, 1999), (Bearne, 1998), (Peters, 1985). (Peters, 1985) view is that children should learn cursive writing at Key Stage 1; believing that ♦ It will result in children understanding the concept of a word at an earlier age ♦ It will also result in better letter formation ♦ Children don’t have to ‘adapt’ at around eight ♦ The movements involved in cursive writing will produce better spelling. This last claim is particularly interesting; Peters claims that ‘Quality of handwriting is highly correlated with spelling attainment’ and this relationship is supported by (Bearne, 1998) who attributes the connection between handwriting and spelling to kinaesthetic memory. For a child to learn handwriting, he has to learn how to form