3 reasons why you should take notes on paper

 New semester, new study habits

I know,  you are groaning and rolling your eyes, thinking I am completely wacked and from the dark ages, right?  Well, this might be true, but stick with me and hold your final verdict until the end of my ramble.

For many students here in Calgary, a new semester begins next week.  Exams have finished (whew, a collective sigh from parents, as kids are now out of the house and back to school).  I remember a new semester feeling a bit like January 1st.  A clean slate.  A chance for a do over on my study habits and to bring up that overall average, especially in the later years of high school.

Create a gadget free zone at the office or in the classroom

The dreaded class note taking is a thing no student can avoid if they want to at least pass the course.  This fact hasn’t changed all that much.  Teacher spews out a myriad of info, student is expected to get it down and then apply (hopefully) and remember.  How students take notes, though, looks a whole lot different.  Gadgets of all types are at their disposal.  Laptops rule.

“I’ve brought whiteboard markers to a gunfight.” I love this quote by Clay Shirky, a professor at NYU as I think it sums up the feeling of many in the teaching profession. In fact, he  decided to ban laptops in his classroom.  And, get this, he is a teacher of theory and practice of social media. He isn’t alone in his somewhat radical approach. Professor Julie Sedivy at the University of Calgary wrote about her decision to do ban all electronics from her classroom.

 Keep the ‘lids closed.’

According to new research  from Princeton University  pen to paper is a better method of note taking than using the laptop. So, whether you are a student or not (think office meetings), here are 3 reasons why you should keep the ‘lid closed’ (lingo Professor Shirky uses in his classroom) and dust off the pen:

1.  Don’t be a zombie. When we type on the laptop we type almost verbatim what we hear, to the point where it becomes a mindless activity.  When we do this we are not thinking about what we are hearing or processing it.  If you use pen and paper, you obviously won’t be able to write as fast as the speaker talks, but that’s a good thing.  It makes us process what we are hearing, summarize it and jot down key points.  We are forced to comprehend and this will help us retain the info.

2. Zero distraction zone.  The paper and pen option doesn’t allow for toggling between Twitter, snapchat, Utube videos or to have a ‘bing’ go off (silent or otherwise) to let you know you just received a message. This lack of distraction while taking notes is a huge advantage – as long as you can keep your eyes off that pretty girl in the front row, you will do much better on engaging with and remembering that information after the lecture.

3.  Get physical. The physical motion of writing is very different than typing. In fact, studies show that handwriting causes more brain activity and forming the letters and words with pen to paper is part of kinesthetic learning.

For more tips you will want to check out this info graphic on note taking in the digital classroom.

So, after all that,  what do you think?  Writing or typing?

photo 1 credit: Stanford EdTech via photopin cc

photo 2 credit: ecastro via photopin cc

photo 3 credit: Jeremy Wilburn via photopin cc