Technology is great but, in the end, the good old pencil still works

As 5-year-old children opt to play computer learning games instead of using traditional learning toys, and middle schoolers would not even think to research a school project with a physical encyclopedia, the staying power of the little wooden pencil, like the ones George Washington used, seems remarkable.

Not only are pencils still used in classes like art and math, the good old No. 2 pencil is the key to the multiple-choice, computer-graded tests that open doors to the nation's universities and graduate programs.

Tom Ewing, spokesman for the Educational Testing Service, which administers tests like the SAT, GRE and GMAT, said that while the number of people taking them on computers is increasing, the paper and pencil versions still predominate.


Ewing said that in fiscal 2004 the number of people who took the tests on computers was only a fraction of those using pencils, with only about 1.6 million people on computers, compared with about 23.7 million using paper and pencil.

Ewing cited several reasons for this difference: "Wider use of computers is hampered somewhat by availability - where can you find computers for 25 million people? Sometimes it is security, the need to have a proctor, and sometimes it is cost."

He said ETS would like to increase the number of computer tests, though a major shift is far down the road. "For the foreseeable future paper and pencils remains the reliable workhorse of educational measurement," Ewing said.

Lack of access to computers is one of the major reasons computer testing is still far behind traditional pencil tests, said Tim Loomer, president of testing and assessment and Scantron Corp. Scantron provides many of the multiple-choice tests in K-12 education.

Though there is a trend toward online testing, there has not been a real drop-off in paper and pencil testing, Loomer said. "Not everyone has a computer, but I guarantee you can get everyone a pencil," Loomer said.

Technological initiatives, such as Duke University's plan to hand out free iPods to incoming freshman, have not reduced demand for pencils. The university is giving out the small electronic devices to allow students to listen to lectures, browse course bulletins or practice pronunciation for language classes.

Mike Finn, spokesman for PaperMate, which says it is the biggest producer of pencils in the United States, said pencils are still popular and necessary. Demand for pencils is strong, he said, but children are interested in more modern pencil options, not just the simple yellow wooden pencil. An increasing number of children are opting for mechanical pencils or color pencils, but PaperMate's general sales of pencils have not waned as technology increasingly enters classrooms and children's homes, he said.

Musgrave Pencil Co. in Shelbyville, Tenn., has seen an increase in preference for fancy pencils in recent years. Lynn Hulan of Musgrave said the pencils preferred today tend to have bright colors and often include slogans such as "I Love to Read" and "Honor Roll."