Ditch the laptop and pick up a pen, class. Researchers say it’s better for note taking.
September 4, 2014
The Washington Post:
Using technology in the classroom can produce fabulous results, but for note-taking, it may pay to keep it old-school and stick with pen and paper.
Students who take longhand notes appear to process information more deeply than those who take notes on a laptop, according to a study published this year in Psychological Science. Using the newfangled method generally produces more raw notes, researchers say in the study, “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard,” which was published in April. (The study was resurfaced this week by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, as students return to school.)
Read the whole story: The Washington Post
Comments
As a special educator I’m concerned that this new “research” is becoming the latest craze in education. My question is, how many students with learning disabilities, especially writing disabilities, were included included in this study? How many teachers are using this study in such a way as to limit technology as a scaffolding tool inadvertently? This may be the case for “typical students,” but I fear it pushes us back to the one size fits all approach.
I think this research is highly generalizable to the typical students and also to the high achievers. Of course there are some learning disabilities that will still be treated well with computer technology assists.
Online “scaffolding” tools sounds like someone has been drinking the common core kool-aid. Learning how to click on stuff and share information collaboratively is not a “skill” that needs to be learned in school…at any level. It is a no-brainer that takes away from content learning.
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