Chaotic Studying

Once you get to college, there are a lot of college professors who don't mind if you use your laptop, tablet, or iPad in class to take notes.  In the six years I've been in college, I've only had one professor ban all electronics because he's "old fashioned" (his words).  I know a lot of students, my boyfriend included, who would rather use their laptop (or their tablet or iPad) to take notes because it's faster.  But is faster really better?

According to research done by psychologists Pam A. Mueller (Princeton University) and Daniel M. Oppenheimer (University of California, Los Angeles), laptops are terrible for note-taking.  Students, according to their research, have a tendency to "transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words" and that is "detrimental to learning".  How crazy is that?  In an age where technology has become the focal point of our daily lives, students are being told that they are better off handwriting their notes during class.  But why?  The most common thought - and the early argument - is that laptops, tablets, and iPads give students great accessibility to a vast number of distractions - social media, other course work, Reddit, funny cat videos.  However, recent studies have found that handwriting is better for another reason: it slows you down while you're learning.

Slows you down? Isn't that the opposite of what you want to happen when you're in class?

Let me explain: if you're a skilled typist - and most students these days are - you're probably able to type everything your professor says or every word that is on the PowerPoint.  And when this happens, studies show, you're not required to think critically about what is being said, and your brain doesn't engage with the material.  On the other hand, if you take your notes by hand in class, you don't have that ability - you can't write fast enough to write down every single word.  Right?  You have to summarize the concepts and make personal connections; you are forced to ask the professor questions in order to clarify information that you don't understand.  The effort that you put into writing your notes by hand is the action that cements the material in your memory.  Other studies have found that handwriting actually engages parts of your brain that are neglected when someone is typing - particularly parts of the brain that are associated with the formation of memories.

That doesn't seem like a coincidence to me.

However, there are those in the world who believe that laptops (and all those other electronic devices) are beneficial for students.  These machines are often embraced because they are so technically advanced and they're portable.  Makes life pretty easy for students.  An article written by Maria Magher presents the idea that there are several advantages to using a laptop for note-taking: more efficient and more detailed notes, faster writing and editing capabilities, and they are convenient for group work.

More efficient note-taking: Notes can be directly typed into a document.  Digital note-taking gives you the ability to organize you study material automatically; you're also able to search for information via keywords.  You can even share your notes with other people!  The biggest convenience of digital  notes is that your notes can be stored and backed up so they're never lost.  

More options for writing & editing: Magher states that "Laptops can help students write papers more easily" because "Typing can make the writing processes go faster, and the tools in word processing software make it easier for students to edit their work".

The biggest advantage of using laptops for note-taking, according to Magher, is that they allow you, as students, to access your information wherever you can connect to WiFi.  And I can't deny that.  With new mobile apps that are popping up for iOS, Android, and even Windows it's even more possible for you to access your notes wherever you go.

The debate (even if it isn't heavily debated) is pretty well split down the center.  There are a vast majority of students who would rather take their notes via their laptop.  One of my peers explained to me that he would rather have detailed, typed notes that he can understand when he goes back to study.  He told me that if he has to slow down his thinking process and focus on making other connections in class, he's less likely to catch the important things the professor is saying.  If he types them, he is able to keep detailed notes; when he goes back to study those notes, he makes the personal connections.  

I recently discovered an app that is, like, the best of both worlds.  Notability allows you to combine handwriting, photos, and typing!  You can add detail, change fonts, change colors...all that stuff.  It's $5.99 for iPhones, but if you're someone that likes to dabble in handwritten notes and typed notes, this might be something worth looking into.  I don't have it on my iPad, but I'm starting to think I should.  Because, while I love handwriting my notes, I can understand the benefits of using technology.  The speed at which I can jot down my thoughts and take notes is insane, and I am slowly becoming a student who would rather type all her notes than handwrite them merely because I just don't have the time in my personal life to hand write reading notes for the (literally) twenty or more novels I have to read this semester.  

It's all about preference, guys.  Do whatever makes you happy and whatever is the easiest for you.  But just remember the benefits of handwriting your notes the next time you reach to pull out your trusty laptop.