Paper Notes are Better than Online

Paper Notes are Better than Online

Gladys Garcia Vasquez, writer

How are paper notes better than typing? They are better because they help you practice your handwriting and can make you learn faster. Some people switch to taking notes online instead of writing them because it’s faster and easier, especially if they don’t have good handwriting. However, most of the time, taking notes online isn’t the best way to learn since it can distract you from learning. You can be done with the notes early and become bored while waiting for others to finish and start to go off track, and that can become a habit while taking notes. It can make you forget what you just learned.

Pros of Online Notes
A benefit of taking notes online is you can do it faster, since if you are a fast typer you can get more information than someone who is writing them down.

Pros of Paper Notes
While writing down the information, you are reading them in your head and you are processing the information that is given to you. Even if it can take you some time to write down the information you are still learning and listening to it, not just copying it down.

In one study, the people who did the studies learned that when someone writes their notes, their brain is active and paying attention to the process. When you read your notes after writing them, you will remember them. Online notes don’t have the same effect. It’s like you are learning from the beginning. Paper notes are better because while writing, you are learning and you are re-reading as you write in your notebook. You may think that you do the same thing while you are typing, but you aren’t.

Some other studies show that when you use a laptop to write notes you are typing more information, but in reality, you are learning half of it. While using paper notes, you can write a little but you are summarizing the information. Even if it seems a lot, especially if your hand gets tired after writing, it’s proven to be better. Also, writing can improve your brain’s ability to do multiple things at the same time. For example, listening and writing is a skill most people can’t do; They have to wait for the person to stop talking to continue their writing. Online notes can be a distraction because instead of taking notes you can be tempted to do something else.

People may use the excuse that they are slow writers and that’s why they prefer the online version, but the reason why some people can be slow writers is because they are processing the information. It’s not about the writing skill, it’s because that’s how their brain works. Some people are slower to process information and others could be faster. In conclusion, paper notes are a better option for people to be able to understand and be able to memorize things than they would with online notes.