Bruno J. NavarroMar 31
Once each semester, Grit Matthias Phelps, a German language instructor at Cornell University, introduces her students to the raw feeling of typing without online assistance. No screens, online dictionaries, spellcheckers or delete keys. https://apnews.com/article/typewriter-ai-cheating-chatgpt-cornell-ce10e1ca0f10c96f79b7d988bb56448b
College instructor turns to typewriters to curb AI-written work

Once a semester, a Cornell University instructor requires her students to complete an in-class assignment using typewriters — an exercise to help them understand what writing, thinking and classrooms were like before everything turned digital. The exercise started in 2023, as Grit Mathias Phelps grew frustrated that her German language students were using generative AI and online translation platforms to churn out grammatically perfect assignments. The revival is part of a national trend toward old-school testing methods like in-class pen-and-paper exams and oral tests to prevent AI use for assignments on laptops.

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@bruno_j_navarro

As a kid who liked to write (and had shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitty handwriting), my parents gifted me an old, manual typewriter. While useful, it was almost as much of a chore to use as the first car I got at age 16: it had manual steering. It was such a revelation when I got to high-school and was able to take a formal typing class that used IBM selectrics.

Oddly, in the late 80s, taking a typing class wasn't normally on my highschool's college-prep tack. It was on one of the "vocational" tracks. My aforementioned handwriting combined with knowing I'd want to be better-equipped to churn out papers on the university computers meant that I used one of my highschool electives to take that out-of-track typing class. So glad I did.
Mar 31 at 1:48pmWeb