Teens & Screens

Notetaking: Is the pen mightier than the keyboard?

The use of technology in educational settings has transformed the way new learning can be recorded and summarised – this, we cannot doubt – but it is also important to take stock of how that technology is used to assist the learning process and the role that handwriting plays in durable learning.

The Role of Notetaking in Learning

Notetaking has long been a core function of the learning process and educational experience. Note-taking is more than recording information. It is an active learning process. As learners listen, they must identify key ideas, decide what is important, organise information, and often rephrase it in their own words. These mental processes strengthen attention, deepen understanding, and improve memory by encouraging the brain to connect new information with existing knowledge. When notes are later reviewed, recalled, and revised, these neural connections are reinforced, making learning more durable.

Notetaking by Hand

Notetaking by hand forces active listening and summarising because writing is slower than typing. This requires students’ brains to process concepts deeply rather than transcribing verbatim. As a result, students are more likely to achieve better long-term memory retention, enhanced conceptual understanding, and stronger recall.

Handwriting Notes Supports:

Deeper Encoding: The physical act of writing engages the motor cortex and other interconnected brain regions, naturally creating stronger neural pathways that aid in memory and meaning.

Conceptual Comprehension: Because you cannot write as fast as someone speaks, you are forced to synthesize, paraphrase, and organise information using your own words.

Fewer Distractions: Ditching the laptop eliminates the temptation to multitask, browse the web, or check messages, keeping students highly focused on the immediate material.

Spatial Memory and Customisation: Handwritten pages allow for visual mapping, like diagrams, arrows, and personalised shorthand, which create unique mental anchors for retrieval later.

Notetaking by Laptop

Typing notes on a laptop offers unmatched speed, allowing students to easily capture large volumes of information. Key benefits include seamless integration of multimedia or screenshots, and keyword searchability that makes finding specific concepts during exam prep significantly faster.

Laptop note-taking offers several benefits:

Speed and Volume: typing is generally much faster than writing by hand, which is ideal for rapidly spoken lectures or meetings.

Searchability: students can instantly find exact words or concepts eliminating the time spent flipping through physical pages.

Organisation: tools allow students to easily edit, reorder, and structure files without dealing with physical paper clutter.

Multimedia Integration: students can easily embed charts, links, and screenshots directly alongside their text.

While typing notes excels in efficiency, research in educational psychology notes that typing can sometimes lead to "mindless transcription" and slightly lower conceptual retention compared to handwriting. 

Either way, What Matters Most is What Students DO with their Notes

The value of notes lies not in how they are created, but in how they are processed, reviewed, and used to support learning. Once students have taken notes, it is essential for their learning that they engage in multiple revision strategies to boost their learning

Tanya Moran

Leader of Professional Practice

Excerpts above are taken from the Safety Commission website published on 18/2/2025: