Tweet

Click click, tap tap, maybe a clack here and there; these are the sounds that are being heard more and more frequently in classrooms across America.

More and more, students are going the route of the tablet and the laptop for note-taking.

Sure, it can be quicker way to take down large amounts of information quickly.  However, these devices can still cause trouble in the classroom.

For starters, laptops and tablets have a tendency to be distracting.

Say you’re tired of your professor’s lecture, simply close your notetaking app and open Facebook or Twitter.

Senior Julianna Lusk says she would rather take notes by hand.

“I’m not the best typer,” she explained.  “So taking them down by hand is definitely quicker and more efficiently.”

Classmate Jake Burch agrees, saying, “I like writing them out because I can organize them how I like, and I’ve always done it this way.”

But perhaps more importantly, taking verbatim notes on a screen will not allow you to process the material as well as if you were taking them down long hand.

In a recent British survey of 2,000 people, one in three of the correspondents said that they had not written anything down by hand in the last six months.

The study, commissioned by Docmail, also showed that on average, they had not put pen to paper in the previous 41 days.

Which is  unfortunate, considering recent studies that have shown handwriting is better for retaining information that typing with a keyboard.

“I definitely feel like by writing them down I process the information better,” senior Kala Wooten added.  “I can pay attention while jotting down the notes.”

Taking notes down with pencil or pen will force you to be more selective with what you write down.

Mr. Gabrielson, the computer applications teacher at BA, gave a rather unbiased opinion on the topic.

“It really depends on your strength,” he said.  “Personally, I would rather type because I can take information down faster, but I understand that some people are more comfortable writing.”

Math teacher, Mrs. Stinson, says that laptop note-taking wasn’t really an option when she was in school.

“Some of us used recorders to get all of the information,” she explained.  “I definitely agree that laptops and tablets can be distracting, however, because it’s easy to click over to FaceBook or something whenever you get bored.”

Typing for note-taking: it is a scenario that BA will face head on in the coming years as it makes moves to incorporate more technology in the classroom.