Computers, smartphones and tablets were once simply an idea, now abundant in today’s tech-driven, digital classrooms. Paper and pencil have become necessities of the past, abandoned by a fast and advancing world that now operates on binary, not ink. With all these advancements in our daily school lives, learning couldn’t get any easier than this. But is this really the superior way to learn? I’m here to debate that using the standard paper and pencil for note-taking is more practical for learning new things, showing that tradition can sometimes be better than evolution.
Many students have different styles of retaining information and learning. Kinesthetic learners, or people who usually learn through physical activity and hands-on learning, are the most affected by whether they use a device to take notes or not. Kinesthetic learners rely heavily on muscle memory and physical sensation in order to retain and remember information. For students in this category, typing on a computer doesn’t stimulate muscle memory the same way that writing with paper and pencil does. Since the motion of typing takes much less physical effort in comparison with paper-and-pencil writing, kinesthetic learners have a much harder time recalling information that they type on a computer.
Furthermore, the old-school method of using paper and pencil offers much less distraction than taking notes on a computer. With a device as advanced as a laptop or tablet, students have the power of a search engine right at their fingertips. It’s inevitable that there may be some students who decide to abuse this feature to stray from schoolwork and zone out in class. But using paper and pencil does not have this same problem, with students having the option to either take notes or look around the classroom to distract themselves. Separating students from technology will disincentivize them from not paying attention, since there are fewer appealing distractions available, leaving them with no choice but to take notes properly, as they should.
Granted, it’s no secret that typing on a computer is much faster than writing on paper. With computers, students are able to write down notes faster and keep up with fast-paced teaching. While this may be more convenient at the moment, writing with paper and pencil is still better for learning in the long term. The slow nature of writing forces students to be efficient with the notes they write down, as they must keep up with the teacher while still understanding the material as best as possible. Therefore, using paper and pencil forces students to slow down, dissect and understand the material they are learning instead of simply transcribing what the teacher says using a computer.
