Results of the Weekly Typewriter Inventory

Part of the Classroom Typewriter Project is getting children excited about typewriters and the creative process. That goal is measured trough the Weekly Typewriter Inventory. This survey is 7 simple statements that students mark the degree to which they agree.

Of all respondents I was able to come up with these interesting facts:

• 75% of students responded with "Strongly Agree" when asked if they enjoy using the typewriter in class. The remaining 25% agree with the statement. No participating students marked Neutral, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree.
• 50% of students responded with "Neutral" or "Strongly Disagree" when asked if a computer is better for composition than a typewriter.
• 63% of students responded that they feel their spelling has improved with the use of the typewriters. I did ask for a follow-up and some responded that an inability to easily correct mistakes has made them more deliberate in their spelling.

I want to wait for another inventory to see if the numbers hold fast, but there is a like of using the typewriters. The farther that I go into this project  the more I think that some students have preferential methods of writing and that the responses may be linked to personality and likes that an innate benefit of the typewriter.

Could this just be a restatement of the research that Ben Wood and Frank N. Freeman did on typewriters in classrooms during the 1930s? We'll see. I think I'll do a separate post about that particular piece of research. It really is interesting.

UPDATE: I have further broken down the results which will be clarified in another post.