The steady shift from pens and pencils to keyboards has led many schools to play down writing by hand and other fine motor activities. But a major new review of research suggests that may be a mistake. The study, published in Educational Research Review, brings together evidence from 118 previous studies involving almost 80,000 children and adolescents. Taken together, it shows a clear and consistent link between children’s fine motor skills and how well they perform at school, across reading, writing, mathematics and broader cognitive measures. In other words, writing may be thinking in both a physical and cognitive sense. (more…)

New research suggests a widening gap between how UK university students and academic staff view the growing influence of artificial intelligence in higher education. The annual Coursera study reports a sharp rise in student use and approval of AI tools, contrasted with declining confidence among educators. The findings indicate that students now use AI for almost half of their study activities, up from a quarter last year. They also report strong benefits: four in five say their grades have improved since adopting the technology, and most believe it is enhancing the overall quality of higher education. Confidence has risen markedly since 2024, with 85 percent now saying the technology has a positive impact, compared with 67 percent a year ago. (more…)