From a generation that grew up in front of their screens, you would expect Generation Z to be proficient in all electronic devices.

However, experts now suspect that the online generation may be losing the ability to type.

As smartphones and tablets overshadow laptops and desktop computers, many fear that touch typing may be forgotten.

In April, Generation Z icon Billie Eilish told Rolling Stone, “I never learned to type because I wasn’t part of that generation, and now I regret it.”

How fast can you type? Take the test below to find out.

In April, Billie Eilish revealed that she couldn’t touch type, saying it was because she was “not that generation.” Like Ms. Eilish, many members of Generation Z seem to lack this core skill.

Over the last 25 years, the number of young people attending typewriting courses has dropped dramatically.

One possible reason for this, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, is the fewer number of schools offering typing courses.

In the UK, schools can choose to offer a national Ofqual certificate in typing, but there is no obligation to offer it.

Although the ability to type is 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 are no official figures on how many students across the country are learning the skill.

Teachers also fear that the increasing use of touchscreen devices by Generation Z could make the situation worse.

As Generation Z spends more time on smartphones and tablets, some believe they may lose the ability to type on a keyboard (symbol image)

Instructure, a Utah-based company that creates 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, chief academic officer at Instructure, told the Wall Street Journal, “Students want to do their work on their mobile devices.”

“We have two generations who experience teaching and learning in very different ways. That worries me.”

Since typing speed is determined primarily by the amount of time spent typing, less computer use is likely to result in poorer typing skills.

In 2019, a study of 37,000 typists conducted by Alto University and the University of Cambridge found that smartphone typing speeds have now caught up with those of computers.

Their study found that the so-called “typing gap” between the speed of smartphones and computers is now only 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). But by 2019, that number had dropped to just 2.5 percent.

A study evaluating typing speed on smartphones (pictured) found that the gap between smartphones and computer keyboards was getting smaller and smaller. Participants managed 38 words per minute on a smartphone.

The average typing speed on a smartphone was 38 words per minute (wpm), compared to about 52 on a standard QWERTY keyboard.

This difference was even smaller among 10- to 19-year-olds, who could type on average 10 words per minute faster on a phone than 40-year-olds.

This speed increase may not be surprising considering that participants reported spending an average of about 6 hours per day on their mobile devices.

Although this study alone does not show that computer typing skills are declining, anecdotal reports from teachers suggest that touch typing speed is declining among Generation Z.

Christine Mueller, an Oklahoma teacher, had heard so many complaints from colleagues about her students’ poor typing skills that she organized a keyboard spelling bee.

Ms. Mueller found that the renewed enthusiasm for the skill helped increase speaking rates throughout the school; one student, for example, reached 91 words per minute.

One fourth-grade teacher even told Ms. Mueller that her students’ average speed increased from 13 words per minute to 25 words per minute.

Dr Per Ola Kristensson, a typing expert at the University of Cambridge and co-author of the telephone typing study, told MailOnline that the problem was probably the amount of time it takes to practice.

While Dr Kristensson says his research does not show that Generation Z is losing the ability to type, it does suggest that they are spending more time typing on screens.

The main problem seems to be that students spend less time on the computer than before, which could lead to a slower typing speed (symbol image).

“There are many factors, but the key factor is practice,” says Dr. Kristensson.

“I am not aware of any evidence that increased touchscreen typing is detrimental to the capabilities of a physical keyboard. It is more likely that people are spending less time typing on physical keyboards.”

Despite the increasing prevalence of typed exams and coursework in schools, the 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 are still able to absorb information quickly.

He says, “As long as a user has a typing strategy that allows a text entry rate of 40 words per minute or more, I think it’s more important to focus on what you’re writing than on the specific ability to type it into a computer.”

The bigger problem is that the shift to typing on screens can actually impair students’ ability to communicate.

Dr. Kristensson concludes: “I suspect that autocorrect and generative AI have a deteriorating effect on writing ability.”