Once students at the University of Connecticut pay tuition, they are tasked with taking classes and with classes comes note-taking. Digital notetaking is a recent development, but if you’re a fast-typer it streamlines the arduous process of writing notes. Writing notes by hand is a tried-and-true method with its own benefits though. Either way, the debate narrows down to personal preference, so let’s see what members of the Life section suggest!
Loretta Svedarsky, Campus Correspondent (she/her/hers)
In terms of time, digital notes always have a step up over handwritten notes. But on the other hand, people tend to remember their notes better if they write them by hand. I prefer taking notes by hand on my tablet. I find paper notebooks to be cumbersome, and writing on a tablet gives more customization of my notes without juggling between different colored pens or spending twenty dollars on highlighters.
When writing notes in a lecture, I cannot write as fast as professors talk or how fast they switch slides. This means I have to summarize or only write out the important parts of the lecture, forcing me to think about the material. This makes me more likely to remember it than if I were to simply copy the words without thinking about what they mean.
In the end, it comes down to what you think is more important: remembering your notes more the first time you write them (but taking more time to do so), or taking less time to write your notes, but likely spending more time to study them later.
Thatcher Slocum Campus Correspondent (he/him/his)
Digital.
The first thing to clear up is handwritten versus typed. This is a no-brainer. There are studies all over the place (probably) saying that handwriting solidifies knowledge better than typing.
So, why do I prefer my iPad and Apple Pencil over a notebook and a Pilot G2 0.7-millimeter pen? I must concede that I do enjoy the feel of a real ball pen on paper. That’s something the iPad can’t replace. Something I don’t like, though, is the space that notebooks, binders, paper and stationery take up. As the semester goes on, one’s backpack balloons and mental state deteriorate as the content they’ll have to study for finals season accumulates.
The iPad fixes this issue. I can maintain a slim-figured backpack and look super cool, all without feeling the weight of my notes. I also don’t have any papers to lay out, so I can do my work under the comforting shade of a tree. Plus, I can use so many colors and shapes. My notes may look like those of an advanced 5-year-old who decided to pursue engineering in his playtime, but I’m more likely to come back and study them in my free time because they’re fun and colorful. It’s fun to feel like a kid again. Thanks, iPad.
So, Apple, want to sponsor my journalism career?
Mikayla Murphy, Campus Correspondent (she/her/hers)
Through and through, I am a handwritten notes defender. My fourth-grade teacher told me that handwriting your notes helps you remember them, and I’ve never looked back. Until this year.
I started the year trying to take handwritten notes in lectures and on my readings for each class, but after lagging three chapters behind in anthropology by the third week of classes, I made the dreaded switch to digital notes.
It’s quicker, first and foremost, especially during lectures when the professor spends five seconds on a slide and doesn’t go back. I can copy and paste information from slides, so I’ve been taking more notes overall and it has honestly helped with my studying.
Additionally, digital notes are so much easier to organize than handwritten notes, so when I’m inevitably combing through my notes for one single definition, I can just use “Ctrl + F.” I miss handwriting my notes, but I’m also not three chapters behind in anthropology anymore, so I’d say I made the right choice.
Bonnibel Lilith Rampertab, Campus Correspondent (she/her/hers)
I used to be solely digital as a notetaker, not because I particularly liked it, but because it’s more convenient and I can use the ” Ctrl + F” shortcut to search for specific words in my notes.
However, this semester I couldn’t depend on my laptop to take notes because I have three classes back-to-back and the computer battery would almost die by the third class. Because of this predicament, I had no other choice but to physically write my notes for that class.
I had forgotten how therapeutic and helpful writing by hand was, due to my previous laziness. Being able to write in the margins and more accurately write symbols (and especially complex math equations) is great since you don’t have to scramble and waste time using the insert tool or looking up symbols to copy and paste them. That’s clunky, whereas writing by hand is more natural. It’s also good for memory retention.