For a generation that grew up glued to their screens, you’d expect Gen Z to be masters of all things electronic.
However, experts now suggest that the online generation may be losing its ability to type on a keyboard.
As smartphones and tablets eclipse laptops and desktop computers, many are concerned that touch typing could become a forgotten skill.
In April, Gen Z icon Billie Eilish told Rolling Stone: “I never learned to type because I wasn’t of that generation, and now I regret it.”
So how fast can you type? Take the test below to find out.
In April, Billie Eilish revealed that she couldn’t type, saying it was because she “wasn’t of that generation.” Like Eilish, many members of Gen Z also seem to lack this crucial skill.
Over the past 25 years, the number of young people taking typing courses has declined dramatically.
This may be due to a reduction in the number of schools offering “typing” classes, according to a report published in the The Wall Street Journal.
In the UK, schools can choose to offer an Ofqual national certificate in typing, but there is no requirement to offer one.
Although typing skills are described as “desirable”, touch typing is not part of the national curriculum.
Prestigious schools such as Brighton College and Eton have reintroduced touch typing into the curriculum, but there is no official data on how many students across the country are being taught the skill.
Teachers are also concerned that Gen Z’s increasing use of touchscreen devices could make matters worse.
As Gen Z spends more time on smartphones and tablets, some believe they may be losing the ability to type on a keyboard (stock image)
Instructure, a Utah-based company that makes platforms for students to upload work, found that 39 percent of assignments submitted in May were written on an online device rather than a computer.
Melissa Loble, Instructure’s chief academic officer, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘What students want to do is get work done on their mobile devices.
“We are two generations who experience teaching and learning in very different ways. I find that alarming.”
Since one of the biggest predictors of typing speed is the time spent typing, a reduction in computer use is likely to produce less competent typists.
In 2019, A study of 37,000 typists A study by Alto University and the University of Cambridge concluded that typing speed on smartphones is now catching up with that of computers.
Their study found that the so-called “write gap” between smartphone and computer speeds is now just 25 percent.
In 2000, 44 percent of students had taken a typing course, with many of them taught using software such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (pictured). However, by 2019 that figure had fallen to just 2.5 percent.
A study evaluating typing speed on smartphones (pictured) found that the gap between smartphones and computer keyboards was narrowing, with participants reaching 38 words per minute on a smartphone.
The average typing speed on a smartphone was 38 words per minute (wpm), compared with about 52 on a standard QWERTY keyboard.
That gap was even smaller among those aged 10 to 19, who, on average, could type 10 wpm faster on a phone than those aged 40.
That speed increase might not be surprising given that participants reported spending about 6 hours per day on their mobile devices on average.
While this study alone does not prove that computer typing ability is declining, anecdotal evidence from teachers points toward a decline in touch typing speed among Generation Z.
Christine Mueller, an Oklahoma teacher, had heard so many colleagues complain about their students’ poor typing skills that she organized a keyboard spelling bee.
Ms. Mueller found that renewed enthusiasm for the skill helped increase speed across the school, with one student reaching 91 words per minute.
One fourth-grade teacher even told Mueller that her students’ average speed had increased from 13 wpm to 25 wpm.
Dr Per Ola Kristensson, a typing systems expert at the University of Cambridge and co-author of the telephone typing study, told MailOnline the problem is likely to be the time spent practising.
While Dr. Kristensson says his research doesn’t show that Gen Z is losing the ability to write, it does suggest they are spending more time writing on screens.
The main problem seems to be that students spend less time in front of computers than in the past, which could lead to a decrease in typing speed (file image)
“There are many factors, but the key factor is practice,” says Dr. Kristensson.
“I’m not aware of any evidence that increased touchscreen typing is detrimental to physical keyboard skills. Most likely, people will spend less time typing on physical keyboards.”
Despite the increasing ubiquity of typed exams and coursework in schools, reduced use of keyboards at home and for homework may explain the difficulties observed by teachers.
However, Dr. Kristensson points out that this is not necessarily a problem as long as students can absorb the information quickly.
He says: ‘As long as a user has a typing strategy that allows them to enter text at a rate of 40 words per minute or more, in my opinion it is more important to focus on what to type, rather than the specific skill of entering it into a computer.’
The bigger problem is that the shift to typing on screens may actually hinder students’ ability to communicate.
Dr. Kristensson concludes: “I suspect that autocorrect and generative AI are more likely to have a deteriorating effect on writing ability.”