I found this article through NPR's education section whist checking my feedly and I found it not only relevant as an educator, but as a current student as well.
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away
In a world where technology is becoming more and more common in the classroom it makes since that students would evolve to take it upon themselves to incorporate laptops and tablets as tools for note taking. Note taking on a laptop is something I see very often in my own classes with my peers and I can understand its appeal as many of us now type faster then we can write by hand, especially since cursive is no longer taught to children. Many students feel that by being able to tape faster, they get more information onto their notes, which may be true, but as this article brings up, it may not be the amount of information you take in, but the way that you take it in.
According to this article, studies have found that by forcing limited note taking (i.e. hand written notes) students must use short hand and are forced to be more selective in writing their notes rather then writing them down verbatim. Reflecting on when I was in school, many times we were forced to answer home work questions form our books and movies "in you own words". I remember talking to my teacher and asking them why I couldn't just copy the words from the book and they responded in saying "when you put it in your own words, you remember it better". Essentially, that's what note taking forces you to do.
In addition, while having to think about short hand and information selecting, a student becomes more immersed in the lecture versus having time to do other things, such as being tempted by distractions on their tablet or laptop. Although helpful sometimes, tablets and laptops offer distractions such as games, texting, and social media which are tempting to students during a dull lecture.
This is good food for thought as we get students that one day will ask "why do I have to write it in my own words" or even "why can I just use my laptop. Perhaps some of you tablet/laptop note takers disagree, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Great job Jackie! I completely agree with this article. While there are times to use laptops and technology in the classroom, note taking should not be completed in that way. I have noticed even as an adult taking college courses that when you type up notes or information, the information does not retain as well as it would if I was handwriting notes. Using computers for note taking also takes away the ability to quickly/easily write math problems and prevents students from drawing pictures and diagrams, which are skills that I find vital to the way that I understand or remember facts in my notes. I never thought about the whole "write your answers in your own words" issue as one to help us as students remember our note though! I always thought that was just to prevent plagiarism. Nice job!
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