The author presents novel algorithms to design unconstrained handwriting recognition systems organized in three parts: In Part One, novel algorithms are presented for processing of Arabic text prior to recognition. Algorithms are described to convert a thinned image of a stroke to a straight line approximation. Novel heuristic algorithms and novel theorems are presented to determine start and end vertices of an off-line image of a stroke. A straight line approximation of an off-line stroke is converted to a one-dimensional representation by a novel algorithm which aims to recover the original sequence of writing. The resulting ordering of the stroke segments is a suitable preprocessed representation for subsequent handwriting recognition algorithms as it helps to segment the stroke. The algorithm was tested against one data set of isolated handwritten characters and another data set of cursive handwriting, each provided by 20 subjects, and has been 91.9% and 91.8% successful for these two data sets, respectively. In Part Two, an entirely novel fuzzy set-sequential machine character recognition system is presented. Fuzzy sequential machines are defined to work as recognizers of handwritten strokes. An algorithm to obtain a deterministic fuzzy sequential machine from a stroke representation, that is capable of recognizing that stroke and its variants, is presented. An algorithm is developed to merge two fuzzy machines into one machine. The learning algorithm is a combination of many described algorithms. The system was tested against isolated handwritten characters provided by 20 subjects resulting in 95.8% recognition rate which is encouraging and shows that the system is highly flexible in dealing with shape and size variations. In Part Three, also an entirely novel text recognition system, capable of recognizing off-line handwritten Arabic cursive text having a high variability is presented. This system is an extension of the above recognition system. Tokens are extracted from a onedimensional representation of a stroke. Fuzzy sequential machines are defined to work as recognizers of tokens. It is shown how to obtain a deterministic fuzzy sequential machine from a token representation that is capable'of recognizing that token and its variants. An algorithm for token learning is presented. The tokens of a stroke are re-combined to meaningful strings of tokens. Algorithms to recognize and learn token strings are described. The. recognition stage uses algorithms of the learning stage. The process of extracting the best set of basic shapes which represent the best set of token strings that constitute an unknown stroke is described. A method is developed to extract lines from pages of handwritten text, arrange main strokes of extracted lines in the same order as they were written, and present secondary strokes to main strokes. Presented secondary strokes are combined with basic shapes to obtain the final characters by formulating and solving assignment problems for this purpose. Some secondary strokes which remain unassigned are individually manipulated. The system was tested against the handwritings of 20 subjects yielding overall subword and character recognition rates of 55.4% and 51.1%, respectively.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to introduce the reader to a new writing model Comenia Script and the results of its establishing during the first years of a school attendance. The theoretical part deals with a developement of a script, a characteristic of a cursive Latin alphabet writing and Comenia Script and a contemporary education of a first-year writing. In the practical part the findings gathered during the participant observation of the entrusted sample of respondents were analysed and the questionnaire survey focussed on attitudes of involved pupils' parents was evaluated.

This design project will map, look at and give answers regarding: The story of handwriting from a pedagogical perspective, within a Swedish context. It is primarily based on a great interest in writing by hand, and the effects and benefits it has on its practitioners. Handwriting today compared to before is getting less space in the digitized society, but is handwriting as a practice still used in Swedish schools? The predicted meaning is that children in school cannot write properly by hand anymore, due to all technologies such as smartphones, tablets and computers. The question is complex and the answer is more than just a simple yes or no, and therefore this investigation in handwriting has been done. The thesis will look back in the history of handwriting and give answers to the question through both theory and practice. Through research it will document differences and similarities between how people born between 1930-1959 and today’s lower elementary school children are looking at and working with handwriting. To be able to make this comparison—a digital survey, field studies, workshops and handwritten letters and notes from persons within the two defined research groups has worked as research methods to make the result as reliable as possible. Until recently, the art of writing more known as “Välskrivning” was a very central competence in Swedish school. It was a graded subject where focus was on how to write properly and practice good handwriting. The fact that “Välskrivning” is no longer a school subject means that the children today do not have the same prerequisites for succeeding with handwriting in the long term. They get other opportunities in the digital world, but one does not have to exclude the other. In my research I have found that despite technological tools and advancements, children still enjoy and value writing by hand, and then it is my task as a change agent to break the norm that handwriting as a practice is disappearing in Swedish schools and give children the tools they need to continue writing new chapters in the story of handwriting. To stimulate learning with joy, work with fine motor skills and strengthen the ability to concentrate amongst children through a handwriting workshop is what the investigation has led to. The answers in this thesis will not change the world, but the handwriting workshop, designed as a pedagogical tool, will hopefully inspire and motivate children to write by hand for a long time to come.

Handskrift – definierat som skrivande för hand med penna – har av tradition varit en viktig komponent i grundskolans läroplan. Sett till de teknologiska framsteg som gjorts under de senaste 20 åren står dock handskriften numera inför en osäker framtid. Likt övriga samhället har skolväsendet påbörjat en digital omställning där en stor del av debatten kretsar kring huruvida handskrift och handskriftsundervisning är relevant. Enligt lärare minskar också handskriftens betydelse i skolorna på grund av upplevd tidsbrist, styrdokumentens utformning, brister i lärarutbildningen och rådande digitalisering. Trots det har vi lite kunskap om vad elever tycker om denna utveckling, därav idén till föreliggande studie. Genom kvalitativ utforskning konstruerades ett kvantitativt mätinstrument för attityd, vilket föreliggande flermetodsstudie använt i syfte att bättre förstå vilka attityder grundskoleelever har till skrivande för hand. Följande tre frågeställningar har använts: (1) Vilken relevans anser elever att handskrift har?; (2) Vad tror elever om handskriftens framtidsutsikter?; och (3) Hur uppfattar elever sin egen handstil? Totalt deltog 55 elever från årskurs 5 i studien, fördelat över tre skolor. Fem individuella, semistrukturerade intervjuer hölls med elever (10 till 11 år). De uppfattningar och föreställningar som identifierades genomgick en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och resultatet agerade underlag i konstruerandet av en enkät. Enkäten besvarades av 50 elever (svarsfrekvens: 72 %). Enkätsvaren analyserades med SPSS version 25 där reliabilitetstester utfördes med hjälp av Cronbachs alfa och corrected item-total korrelation. Resultatet indikerar att elever har en positiv attityd gentemot handskrift, skrivstil inkluderat, men att skrivande över datorn anses mer praktiskt. Eleverna har även en relativt positiv attityd till sin egen handstil. Dock anses läslighet vara den enda aspekten av betydande vikt. Eleverna tror att de kommer använda handskrift i framtiden men att dess betydelse kommer minska till följd av digitaliseringen. / Handwriting - defined as writing done by hand with a pen or pencil – has traditionally been an essential component in the elementary curriculum. However, due to the last 20 years of technological advancements, the future of handwriting is anything but certain. Education has, just as the rest of the society, entered an age of digital technologies and much of the debate revolves around the relevance of handwriting and handwriting instruction. Indeed, teachers believe the importance of handwriting has declined in recent years due to time constrains, imprecise guidelines in curricula, deficient teacher training, and digitalization of schools. Yet, little is known about what students think about this evolution, hence the idea of present study. By constructing a quantitative attitude measurement instrument using qualitative exploration, the present mixed-method study seeks to better understand what attitudes elementary school students hold toward writing by hand. The following three research questions were investigated: (1) What relevance does handwriting have according to students?; (2) What is the future of handwriting according to students?; and (3) How do students perceive their own handwriting? A total of 55 fifth-grade students from three Swedish schools participated in the study. Five students (10 to 11 years) took part in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify beliefs reported by the students and a questionnaire was constructed based on the set of beliefs elicited. Fifty students completed the questionnaire (response rate: 72%). Using SPSS version 25 for data analysis, Cronbach's alpha and corrected item-total correlation were used for reliability testing. The results indicate that students have a positive attitude toward handwriting including cursive, though word-processors is considered more convenient. Students also hold relatively positive attitudes toward their own handwriting, yet the only aspect that is of real importance to them is legibility. Students believe they will practice handwriting in the future but that its relevance will decrease due to digitalization.

Notre démarche repose sur le constat que de plus en plus d'enfants sont en difficulté d'écriture. Elle vise à proposer une base de réflexion sur laquelle pourrait s'appuyer un enseignement structuré de l'écriture. Notre recherche porte sur l'écriture des lettres minuscules cursives manuscrites latines en usage dans les écoles françaises. Nous avons fait l'hypothèse que cette écriture, produit de l'école française, constitue un système dont nous pouvons désigner les éléments et définir le fonctionnement. Cette hypothèse ouvre sur la perspective que la prise en compte de ce système pourrait être une aide à l'apprentissage de l'écriture. Notre choix est conforté par les résultats des neurosciences qui montrent qu'écrire à la main serait une aide à l'apprentissage de la lecture. A partir de l'analyse de commentaires sur la lisibilité d'un corpus d'écritures manuscrites, nous montrerons comment est construit ce système et quelles relations hiérarchiques et fonctionnelles ses éléments entretiennent entre eux. Nous y verrons que le cœur du système s'organiserait en deux unités minimales, déclinées chacune en une forme de base et deux dérivées pour l'une, trois dérivées pour l'autre. Le système constitué par l'ensemble de ces sept formes permettrait d'écrire toutes les lettres minuscules cursives latines en usage en France.En ouverture vers d'autres projets, nous avons mis ce système à l'épreuve de la reconnaissance des lettres par des enfants d'école maternelle. Nous avons constaté une amélioration du score entre avant et après une séance d'observation commentée collective. Cette recherche sur le système d'écriture des lettres minuscules cursives latines nous a conduite à avancer des propositions pédagogiques pour l'enseignement de l'écriture.

TITLE Handwriting development from 1st to 5th grade of elementary school Author: Mgr. et Mgr. Olga Kučerová Department: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education Charles University Supervisor: Doc. PhDr. PaedDr. Anna Kucharská, Ph. D. ABSTRACT This dissertation project describes the development phases of the handwriting skills from 1st to 5th grade. The aim of this project is to describe the procedure of dynamic handwriting acquisition concerning two different alphabetic scripts used in Czech elementary schools. These include the traditional cursive script and alternative script that is Comenia Script. We focus on two different styles of penmanship, which are being taught in Czech elementary schools - cursive writing and manuscript writing. Our research sample includes two groups. The first group comprises writers who employ the cursive handwriting style of penmanship, whereas the second group considers the Comenia Script writer i.e. the manuscript style. The research consists of two parts - the theoretical and practical part. The theory defines the basic concepts related to handwriting skills and handwriting development. A substantial part focuses on both styles of penmanship - traditional cursive writing and Comenia Script. We depict their formal characteristics, circumstances of origin and the...

In thesis themes of typography and computer font of OpenType format is described in details. At the beginning attention is paid to historical development of typeface, where stress is laid mainly on development of Roman and white letter with their characteristics. Having presented basis of typography work is concentrated on topic of digital font with emphasis on possibilities of OpenType format. Further its characteristics and advantages were listed compared to another formats and it was evaluated as format appropriate also for creating font in education process. Letterspacing and kerning were mentioned between basic graphical modifications in creating fonts. In theoretical part of the thesis they were examined in available programs designed for creating font in OpenType format. Except free available means into summary were included also commercial types due to absence of more advanced instruments and functions with free available applications. In evaluation was found that the most convenient for education is Fontlab Fontographer commercial program, free Type lite and Fontforge indicated for Open-source platform. Practical part of the thesis is focused on two chosen programs for creating main font characteristics. The goal was to detect if it is possible to reach identical results when using both programs. Fontographer program enabled to use wide tool palette dedicated to vector graphic processing by means of Adobe Illustrator similar instrument. In the case of Type lite program there were rather less instruments, what is sufficient for elementary work and familiarization with creating of digital typeface. Freeware shortage is basic absence of kerning, spacing or hinting functions. Comparing program possibilities, it falls that freeware programs based on OS Windows with their functionality are sufficient only for entry level users. The best option within free available programs is Fontforge for OS Linux which supports mentioned typographic functions. Fontographer was recommended for teaching of basic characteristics of OpenType font format. Another goal of the thesis was creating of recommended work procedure for creating basic characteristics of OpenType font for students, that is enclosed at the end of the thesis.