The Laptop is the Future of Education, But Hand-Written Notes Will Always be the Smartest Method of In-Class Note Taking

In the 2014 study “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking,” Mueller and Oppenheimer investigate whether the use of a laptop for note taking in college classes is more or less beneficial than longhand, traditional note taking.  Through three different procedures, they were able to conclude, “that laptop use can negatively affect performance on educational assessments, even—or perhaps especially—when the computer is used for its intended function of easier note taking.”  Despite the massive escalation in laptop use for virtually everything in recent years, Mueller and Oppenheimer can agree based on their results that it may be harmful for students to use a laptop for in class note taking, and smarter and more beneficial to stick to “old-school,” hand written note taking.

Based on personal experience and the nature of my generation, I am well aware of the massive upsurge of all sorts of technology in the world, especially in higher education.  I support the use of technology to help students learn in different, faster, and perhaps, more effective ways.  In fact, I use my iPad and laptop in class all the time to follow lectures and look up information when needed.  With that said, I strongly agree with Mueller and Oppenheimer’s conclusion that laptop note taking is not nearly as effective as handwritten note taking, and is detrimental to the grades of higher-level students.  Although I adore the use of today’s amazing technology, laptop note taking is far less effective than long hand note taking.  Taking notes on a laptop puts students in a position for distractions, less engagement, and a lack of ability for visual aid such as sketching graphics while handwritten note taking forces students to stay more focused and mentally engaged, and allows the versatility to sketch and draw graphics for visual aid.

The use of laptops for note taking in higher-level education classes is one very controversial issue for professors, students and researchers everywhere because everyone knows that laptops will always provide potential distractions.  In a 2010 study, “Assessing laptop use inhigher education classrooms: The Laptop Effectiveness Scale (LES),” Sharon Lauricella and Robin Kay prove the obvious downsides of the use of the laptop in class.  Students were reported using their laptops in class for non-class activities, such as communication via email and social media, gaming, and watching movies.  Specifically speaking about these three groups alone, 22% of students reported their laptop use for communication purposes, 19% used their laptop for gaming, and 10% of students watched movies during class.  More than half (51%) of students are distracted from class, using their laptops for these three things alone!  Along with this majority, 27% of students reported laptops as being generally distracting during class and another 14% noted that laptops limit their focus and are unhelpful.  A mere 24% of students referred to an “academic use” of their laptops such as for taking notes or following lectures.  It is fair to conclude that laptops provide much more of a distraction to a majority of students, proving that laptop note taking is less effective than hand written note taking.  It is detrimental to laptop users and even a large portion of non-laptop users who find it distracting (27%).

Distractions are not the only issue that laptops give students in the classroom.  According to Denali Tietjen, laptop note takers are more likely to copy notes word-for-word because they have the ability to type faster. But this requires less cognitive processing and these students retain much less information.  However, handwritten note-takers are more likely to summarize, reword, and condense information because they simply have to write less to save time.  Little do people realize, this form of note taking is more mentally engaging and helps students retain information better.  Long hand note taking requires deeper cognitive processing which helps students learn and retain information far greater than laptop note taking.

The controversy involving the laptop for note taking is one that has been around for well over a decade now, and may be an ongoing controversy for many years to come.  Unfortunately, even many professors, who seem to be against the use of a laptop, often look right past it and do not enforce any policies, ultimately hurting their students.  But few, like Paul Thagard, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo, will not stand to watch students do poorly because they are caught up in cyber world.  Thagard knows that most college students do not have much, if any, expertise in multitasking, so he has decided to ban the use of laptops in his classroom completely, knowing that his students grades will benefit in the end.  The technology era will continue to skyrocket in the future, but the notebook and pen will always do so much more for the higher-level student.  With fewer distractions, more mental engagement and cognitive processing, and the ability to write, draw, and create anything by putting pen to paper, hand-written note taking will always trump laptop note taking and prove to favor college students’ learning abilities.