New is not always better: active learning is more successful without the use of technology

In this digital age it is common to see laptops and tablets used in college courses. The question that comes into play is whether or not these technological devices are beneficial to the learning process. Research suggests that taking notes the old-fashioned way with pen and paper allows for better learning of a subject than with laptops. The reasoning behind this argument is that writing notes by hand lets students’ process information better, whereas laptops create distraction and make the user take part in multitasking. Although laptops are convenient from time to time, I have found that I take more comprehensive notes by hand and can better recall the information I have written down. While technology is a growing aspect in our society, going back to basic techniques such as handwritten notes may have a significant impact on our lives.

Researchers found longhand note taking to be more beneficial than laptop usage, allowing students to synthesize and process the information they were learning

Researchers at the Princeton and the University of California, Los Angeles have conducted several studies on the advantages of taking notes by hand instead of on a laptop in the article “The Pen Is Mightier Than The Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking”. There were three studies that tested the participants on overall, factual, and conceptual performance based on their use of laptops or with pen and paper. These studies looked at the performance of laptop and longhand participants after taking notes on a lecture. The analysis revealed a pattern between the performance, word count, and verbatim overlap. They found that the more notes that were taken, the better the performance. Laptop users showed to take more notes, but also showed to have higher verbatim overlap. However, the study also found that high verbatim overlap led to worse performance. They suggested that the high verbatim overlap from laptop use had a negative effect on the performance and thus suggested the benefit of longhand note taking. They reached the conclusion that although laptop users wrote more notes, they tended to be written verbatim and mindlessly. This conclusion supported the longhand note takers who were able to process and synthesize the information they were learning, showing benefit over laptop usage.

Laptop usage was found to have negative consequences to other students in the classroom according to researchers 

Similar research has been conducted by researchers at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in their article “Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Using Laptop Computers in Higher Education Classrooms: A Formative Analysis”. This study examined the benefits and consequences from students in higher education and their use of laptops for note taking as they have become more popular in classes over the past few years. The results found that there were several benefits to laptop usage such as note taking and academic activities. However, there was a negative consequence with laptop usage and that was causing distraction to other students in the room. This leads to a discussion of whether the benefits outweigh the consequences. Going back to the previous study, they would suggest that the benefits found in this study do not outweigh the consequences due to the results they found in quality of notes that were taken.

Although active learning is most successful using longhand note-taking techniques, the technique is ultimately based on the preference of the students

Despite the growing popularity of laptop usage in class, one might consider the potential negative effects it can have to their learning. Although laptop usage allows for more note taking, the results found in the first study mentioned showed that they were verbatim and did not allow the student to process and synthesize the information as well as longhand note takers. The other issue that comes with laptop uses was mentioned in the second study, where it caused distraction, not just to the user but to others in the classroom. It is important to consider all these factors to see which will be the most beneficial. Taking the results of these studies into consideration will allow you to decide if using a laptop in the class is right for you.