Taking notes is what every student does in class. There are many ways to take notes. Taking notes on paper and laptops are two fashionable ways to take notes. Some people would think that these two ways are similar and there are not particularly large differences between taking notes on paper and laptops. However, there are some large differences between those two ways in intellectual advantage, flexibility, and motivation.

   The deadliest difference between taking notes on paper and a laptop is an intellectual advantage, which means you can recite something better if you take notes on paper rather than on a laptop. Writing on paper provides a stronger conceptual understanding of what is being learned. According to the BBC, taking notes using pen and paper is very beneficial in an academic setting. Although a lot of students could type faster than writing words on paper, writing them down on paper will give you a stronger conceptual understanding of what you are learning. Research by Scientific American says although students could not write all single words from the professor, and students could not recite all single words as well, it forces the brain to engage in some heavy “mental lifting”. That means, “those who wrote out their notes by hand had a stronger conceptual understanding and were more successful in applying and integrating the material than those who used took notes with their laptops" (Cindy May). This is the greatest disadvantage of taking notes on laptops.

   Another difference between taking notes on paper and laptops is the way to save information. If you take notes on paper, that means you have to take your notebook with you, and probably it is not very convincing. Furthermore, using paper requires notebooks, binders, a pencil case, and way more backpack space than a laptop does. So, not only will you be doing some heavy mental lifting, but you’ll also be using your muscles to carry the extra weight in your bag (Christine Rees). In addition, if you take your notes in different notebooks, you have to take all of those with you. Also, the size of the information which the notebook can contain is limited. Those are the disadvantages of taking notes on paper. However, if you take your notes on laptops, you do not need to worry about these things. You can only take one laptop with you and all notes are on your laptop. If you contain your notes on a network disk, whatever where you are, you can just go on the website to see and edit your notes on the Internet. Beyond that, the capacity to take notes on a computer is almost unlimited. Certainly, a laptop carries more information for your classes and takes up less space in your bag. Organizing notes and keeping everything tidy is easy with a few clicks. Folders can be set up within another folder, using dates and subject names to make finding what you need completely painless. You can even go back and reformat or add to those notes later. In a word, taking notes on laptops is more convincing than on paper.

   The last difference between using a pen to take notes with using a laptop to take notes is access and distractions. When you are using your laptop to take notes in your class, you can look things up during the lecture if the speaker is unclear, or if you want to examine supplemental material. However, the more tools you use when taking notes, the more distractions you have. This can be detrimental to your studies, as multitasking on a laptop during class has been shown to seriously hinder students’ learning. There are many distractions that can affect our ability to focus. Surfing the Internet can be a dangerous game when you’re trying to participate and learn in class. There are many distractions that can affect our ability to focus. Surfing the Internet can be a dangerous game when you’re trying to participate and learn in class.

   All in all, there are differences between taking notes on paper and laptops, including the memorization effect, convenience and access, and distractions. Anyway, both of them are ways of taking notes. There is no way that is the best, only the most suitable for their method.

Works Cited

“Digital Notes vs Paper Notes: Benefits of Taking Notes by Hand.” Research.com, 26 Sept. 2022, https://research.com/education/digital-notes-vs-paper-notes , Accessed 8 March 2023.

“Handwriting vs. Typing: How to Choose the Best Method to Take Notes”, Effectiviology, https://effectiviology.com/handwriting-vs-typing-how-to-take-notes/ , Accessed 8 March 2023.

Hammond, Claudia. “When the Best Way to Take Notes Is by Hand.” BBC Future, BBC, 28 Feb. 2022, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191122-when-the-best-way-to-take-notes-is-by-hand , Accessed 8 March 2023.

“Pen and Paper versus Laptop: Is There a Clear Winner in the Note-Taking Olympics?” Office for Science and Society, 20 Sept. 2019, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-general-science/pen-and-paper-versus-laptop-there-clear-winner-note-taking-olympics , Accessed 8 March 2023.

Rees, Christine, “Taking Notes: Paper vs. Laptops vs. Apps.” Student Life Network, https://blog.studentlifenetwork.com/2019/09/10/taking-notes-paper-laptops-apps , Accessed 8 March 2023.

Young, Jeffrey R. “A Popular Study Found That Taking Notes by Hand Is Better than by Laptop. but Is It?” EdSurge, 27 Apr. 2021, https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-04-27-a-popular-study-found-that-taking-notes-by-hand-is-better-than-by-laptop-but-is-it , Accessed 8 March 2023.