Screens in our classrooms are becoming evermore present.  Some are viewing this as major progress in the education system and are excited to see the integration of technology into learning environments. This may be the worst thing for students according to a study conducted by Daniel Oppenheimer at UCLA.

Programs like Orono PLUS are pushing for all students to have computers, iPads or other Personal Learning Devices to take notes on. These programs are starting as early as kindergarten and integrating technology with learning. For the younger kids this is beneficial to allow them to have a more personal learning experience.  

According to a study done by Scientific American, kids who take notes on a computer take more notes than those who hand write, but those who handwrite their notes retain the information better.  It is beneficial to have  more detailed notes, but if you are not going to remember any of the information that you write down, it defeats the purpose of taking notes.

When looking back at past notes, it can be helpful to have more organized notes that are computer generated. They may seem more organized and more detailed, but it will take considerably more effort to glean a better understanding of the material.

“I find it much more beneficial to take handwritten notes, I have to process the information on the spot so I only write down what is important,” Junior Mattie Rice said

Students who take handwritten notes have a stronger conceptual understanding of the material. Those who take notes verbatim rather than put in into their own words as they write tend to not gain a solid understanding as well as those who take them on a computer. It is not that the movement of your wrist forming the words is better than your fingertips flicking across a keyboard, it is the process of what comes out. Handwriting notes is slower, which causes note takers to process the information before writing it down.

As teachers integrate more technology into their classrooms they may post outlines of the lecture for students to use.  According to a study done by Pam Muller with Princeton University, using these outlines is ineffective for in depth note taking. Pre-created outlines lead to minimal note taking which leads to a weaker understanding of the content.

Making the decision between whether to take notes digitally or by hand can be a personal choice, some may benefit from taking notes digitally.

“I prefer to take notes on my computer. I can type faster than I write so I can take more detailed notes, and when it comes time to study it is super easy to just print it out, ” Junior Tori Andrew said.

Despite the studies showing that taking handwritten notes are more beneficial, taking notes digitally is becoming exponentially more popular.  Programs like Google Docs allow for documents to be easily shared so students to take notes together to be sure they get down every word of information.

The downside of this is that individually not every student is getting all the information, but rather relying on classmates to fill in the gaps and expecting just a brief read-through of the notes to suffice for understanding and memorization of the material.

Although the world is shifting to a more digital environment, schools might need to take a step back and see what is best for students. The “old” methods of note taking may be the key to success for students in the future.