20 February 2026

In recent years, teachers have rightly questioned the purpose and design of homework. Should it reinforce what was taught in the lesson, or should it prepare students for the next lesson? Does homework meaningfully improve learning—and if so, what should it look like? 

Craig’n’Dave’s approach at GCSE and A level offers a practical answer: homework that prepares through concise instruction, encodes through handwriting, and consolidates through structured retrieval—so preparation and reinforcement work as a single loop. This recognises a key idea proposed by Alex Quigley, “in an AI‑first world, handwriting is not an anachronism but an aid to thinking and remembering that should sit alongside technology, not be displaced by it.” https://alexquigley.co.uk/learning-by-hand 

Handwriting as a cognitive engine 

With Craig’n’Dave homework, students begin by hand‑copying from what they see on the screen as they pause a video when the “take notes” icon appears. This is intentional. It makes the task low‑stakes, clear, and achievable for all learners without additional help. Every student can get started; no one is locked out by gaps in prior knowledge or confidence. From there, the Cornell structure guides students beyond transcription:

• Notes – initially copied, illustrating and teaching students how to distil information.
• Questions – students turn their notes into prompts that they can self‑test with later.
• Key terms – students identify up to eight essential vocabulary items, creating a high‑utility glossary aligned to the topic.

This journey from copying to curating mirrors Alex Quigley’s argument that handwriting is an “essential aid to thinking and remembering,” not merely an old approach. He situates it within embodied cognition: the physical act of writing engages perceptual–motor systems that bolster memory and comprehension and helps students generate meaning.

Crucially, the rationale isn’t just conceptual. A growing body of evidence shows that handwriting triggers richer, more widespread brain connectivity than typing, supporting memory formation and information encoding. A recent EEG study found far more elaborate connectivity during handwriting than keyboarding—exactly the kind of deeper processing that Quigley argues we risk losing if we sideline pen‑and‑paper practices.

Quigley’s key point deserves to be foregrounded here. Handwriting slows thinking down in productive ways and strengthens encoding into long‑term memory.

Technology as the gateway, not the destination 

Craig’n’Dave videos are deliberately short

– capped at around 12 minutes – and focused solely on what matters for the specification. This is important because cognitive load matters. Long, meandering explanations increase the risk that students disengage or fail to identify the core ideas. Video, used in this way, offers three advantages that traditional teacher exposition cannot:

• Control – students can pause, rewind and rewatch, removing the “one-shot” nature of teacher talk.
• Accessibility – subtitles and translation into over 80 languages provide genuine support for EAL and many SEND learners.
• Relevance – video aligns with how students already consume information, increasing the likelihood of initial engagement.

However, Craig’n’Dave’s model is careful not to confuse engagement with learning. The video is not the endpoint. It is the input. This distinction matters because, as Quigley reminds us, “learning improves when students move beyond passively receiving information and instead select, organise and transform it—something technology should enable but not replace.”

The eyes–brain–hand reinforcement loop

The Craig’n’Dave approach to outside-inside classroom activities creates a deliberate reinforcement loop.

Outside the lesson:

1. Eyes watch the video.
2. Brain processes and selects.
3. Hand writes and organises (copy → question → key terms).

Inside the lesson:

1. Eyes read the same notes.
2. Brain reprocesses the same ideas.
3. Hand applies them in tasks.

The same content is encountered repeatedly, but through different cognitive actions—watching/listening, writing/structuring, reading/applying—producing the reinforcement model that pairs preparation with consolidation. This design is exactly what Quigley advocates: use technology but also require students to embody the learning through handwriting so that ideas are encoded and retrievable.

Smart Revise: retrieval, vocabulary and reasoning 

The third component completes the picture and ensures that knowledge sticks. Smart Revise, Craig’n’Dave’s online platform has three modes students must also engage with to meet their weekly goals as part of their homework diet.

1. Quiz – multiple‑choice questions to check understanding and surface misconceptions.
2. Terms – flashcards to reinforce precise vocabulary (vital in computer science).
3. Advance – typed answers to develop explanation and reasoning.

Where the video supports initial understanding and handwriting supports encoding, Smart Revise delivers retrieval and consolidation. This is where the Eyes–Brain–Hand loop pays off: students don’t just “review”—they retrieve content that has already been processed and embodied through handwriting, which research associates with stronger memory performance than typed note‑taking.

Why this matters for Computer Science 

Computer science demands:

• Dense, technical vocabulary.
• Abstract concepts (e.g., CPU architecture, memory, protocols).
• Precise reasoning in written explanations.

Craig’n’Dave’s homework model maps neatly onto those demands. Video clarifies abstractions. Handwriting transforms exposure into memory through Cornell notetaking—leveraging the embodied cognition benefits. Online recall with Smart Revise secures terminology and strengthens reasoning. Nothing is excluded. Nothing is overused. Technology opens the door, handwriting does the cognitive heavy lifting, and retrieval locks learning in.

The best of all worlds

Rather than choosing between reinforcement or preparation, digital or traditional, Craig’n’Dave’s approach intentionally combines the strengths of each. This is precisely the balanced ecosystem Quigley calls for: keep the affordances of technology, but do not abandon the memory‑forming benefits of writing by hand.

Want to know more? Watch our At the chalk face video here.