It also helps retention, counts as studying, and is also the perfect set-up for the SOAR ® “Take-Ten” strategy. It doesn’t take as long as you would think and it gives you the opportunity to cut useless things out from your notes. After class, transfer your notes from the computer to paper.If you don’t have faith in self-control, there are even apps/programs that you can set up to block all distractions. But, in order to successfully retain the information, you will need to follow three guidelines: When hand-written note-taking is overwhelming, you can then take notes on your computer. If you try hand-written notes and end up feeling completely overwhelmed or with short phrases that don’t make sense, pull out your laptop and try… Solution #2: Type, then write! No one can deny the speed at which you can take notes, compared to writing by hand.Īt some point, you will encounter a class in which you truly can’t keep up with how fast the teacher is teaching. Being fresh out of college, I know how important it is to use laptops and other technology in school. Basically I did anything I could find to do besides taking notes during the lecture. I spent lots of time in class on Pinterest. Unfortunately, I can personally attest to this statistic. Plus, electronic devices introduce the opportunity for social media to interrupt your focus. They spend 40% of class time using the internet or other programs unrelated to the class. Research shows that college students taking notes on a computer only spend 60% of class taking notes. Besides the increased opportunity for higher retention, you won’t have the distractions that come with a computer. Listen, comprehend, and summarize in your notes. Whenever you can, write your notes by hand. Solution #1: Take notes the classic way, pencil in hand. There are two solutions for successful note-taking. I have personally put them both to the test. Therefore, students are merely transcribing, not processing. They don’t use their brain to process what is being taught. This is because students who use a laptop simply type a record of the lecture. The research shows that students who took notes on their laptop did take more notes. The process made the brain work more efficiently it also fosters comprehension and retention of the material. It forced them to focus on listening and digesting, then summarize in their own written words. Students who wrote their notes by hand were aware they wouldn’t catch every word. The study revealed that students who wrote their notes on paper learned more than those who typed their notes 1. Ability to synthesize and generalize information.Conceptual understanding of the material.The study looked at students taking notes on a variety of things: bats, bread, algorithms, faith, and economics. They had students take notes in a classroom setting. Two professors (one from Princeton and one from UCLA) conducted a study by running three experiments. My experience - and the data– might surprise you. I am sure after reading this short bio you have a guess of which method/tool I have a bias towards. I have used all of the options when it comes to note-taking. By the time I got to college, everyone (myself included) was using the computer for everything, even in the classroom. In high school, I started using computers for school-work. I started my schooling taking notes on paper. I am a full-time member of the SOAR ® team, born in the year 1993. This has been the hottest question on note-taking for the past few years, and we have an answer for you!īefore we dig into the facts, I want to share my education background. Today, we reveal the winner of the ultimate note-taking battle… pencil-and-paper vs the computer. It’s time for the note-taking showdown everyone has been waiting for.