I don't know if spelling skills are in decline in general - I am a good speller surrounded in my household by people (adults and kids) who can't spell - but I can't blame that on computers, it's genetics as far as I can tell with my kids and dh
LOL, Polar. I am a natural speller, DH is not. I have one child who is a very good speller but loses a little ground when handwriting is involved; and one who's more extreme, really losing a lot of ground if he has to produce it by hand on paper.
If I have handwritten a grocery list, I can remember it very well afterward without the list. Typing, much less recall. DH is the reverse.
What I learn from living with the folks I live with is that different brains really are *different* in how they process best. I will not insist that my kids draft their papers longhand (even though I still find it helpful to draft that way sometimes). It's useful to keep in mind that statements like "all people learn better X way" or "with X technology" are generally not true...
DeeDee
