On a day-to-day basis, we all have to take notes in some form or another. In the past decade, technology has made it increasingly easy for people to record and organize their thoughts with digital note-taking software like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote.
But what about the old-fashioned way? Handwritten notes can be a better option when flexibility and increased recall are top priorities. According to a 2018 poll, 94% of college students surveyed agreed that paper is essential to achieving their academic goals [1]. So despite all of our technological advancements, paper note-taking is still highly popular.
This article will explore the benefits of both paper and digital note-taking methods – as well as the pros and cons of hybrid systems – so you can determine which system works best for your needs.
Digital Notes
Digital notes can be taken on any electronic device and synced through the cloud. This allows you to share notes, collaborate, and do research all in one spot. Depending on the writing software, you can also have options to embed video and audio directly into your notes, allowing for a multimedia approach.
Benefits of Taking Digital Notes
There are many benefits to taking digital notes, so let’s go through each in detail.
- Easily searchable and retrievable: With a digital note-taking tool, all of your notes are easily accessible from any device or computer with internet access. Most note-taking software will automatically sync your notes between multiple devices as well, making it quick to pull up information. You can quickly search for specific words or phrases in your notes, making it easy to find the information you need, when you need it.
- Multiple formats: Most digital note-taking software allows you to record notes in multiple formats. For example, you can type your note using a word processor or take dictation with speech-to-text functionality. You also have the option to export your notes to a PDF for easy printing should you want a physical copy of your notes.
- Cloud storage: One of the biggest benefits of digital note taking is that it’s stored in the cloud. This makes notes accessible from anywhere at any time – as long as you have an internet connection. Your notes will also be backed-up automatically meaning you never have to worry about losing them.
- Collaborative: With the right software, it’s easy to collaborate with other people on notes by sharing them online or editing them in real-time. This can be especially helpful when working on group projects as multiple people can work on a document simultaneously.
Drawbacks of Taking Digital Notes
While there are many benefits to taking digital notes, there are also a few drawbacks to be aware of.
- Battery life: If you’re using a laptop or tablet to take your notes, you’ll need to make sure it’s fully charged before your class or meeting starts. Depending on your factors such as the type of device you’re using, how old it is, and how good the battery life is, you may need to carry a charger around with you to keep your note-taking device from dying.
- Distractions: It can be easy to get distracted when taking notes on a computer or electronic device, especially if you’re doing it online. If not silenced, social media notifications and pop-ups can cause your attention to wander from the presentation or discussion at hand.
- Inconvenient: If you need to print a hard copy of your notes, this can be time-consuming and inconvenient as printing can be expensive if you need to keep buying both paper and ink. Depending on the size of your device, it may also be heavy or take up significantly more room than a notebook. Lastly, certain note-taking software may require an internet connection to access your notes, thus limiting the places you can access your notes from.
Popular Software for Taking Digital Notes
Some popular software for taking digital notes include:
1. Notability: This app is available on iOS and Mac devices and allows you to take handwritten or typed notes, record lectures, and includes a built-in PDF editor.
2. Evernote: Available on multiple platforms, Evernote lets you take typed or handwritten notes, capture images, and web clippings, and create to-do lists.
3. Google Keep: This app is available on Android and iOS devices, as well as web-browsers. It let’s you take typed or handwritten notes, record voice memos, and set reminders.
4. Microsoft OneNote: Available on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the web, OneNote is a powerful note-taking app that allows you to take typed or handwritten notes, organize your ideas with notebooks and tags, record voice memos, include images in notes, and set reminders.
5. Notion: This web-based app offers a robust database approach to note-taking that lets you create multiple levels of subpages and nested notes.
Paper Notes
One of the most popular reasons for using paper notes over digital is because of increased retention of the material being recorded. According to a 2014 research study by Princeton and the University of California, students taking hand-written notes scored about three times higher than digital note-takers when tested on conceptual questions [2].
Students taking notes longhand wrote significantly fewer words per minute than students who typed, but as result, were forced to select only the most important information to write down. The study hypothesized that the need to prioritize certain information over others because of time-constraints when hand-writing meant paper note-takers processed the information more than those typing out verbatim notes.
Pros of Paper Notes
Now, let’s look at the pros associated with taking paper notes:
- Better recall: Even though you can’t record as many words per minutes as you can while typing, multiple studies have confirmed that hand-writing notes improves retention of information. Because you can’t crank out as many words per minute, you need to cherry-pick only the most pertinent information. The process of deciding what information should be prioritized helps strengthen our connection to the source material.
- Portable and convenient: Taking paper notes is quick and easy since all you need to do is grab your notebook and pen. Notebooks weigh less than digital devices (unless you’re taking notes on your phone), and come in more sizes. Plus, you don’t need to worry about sun glare or being near a charging outlet.
- Inexpensive: Paper note-taking is a very inexpensive way to jot down your thoughts and organize them for later use unless you decide to invest in a few pricey note-scanning apps or high-quality paper. You can buy notebooks for just a few bucks!
- Analog: Some people find that writing by hand is more conducive to creativity and productivity than typing on a computer. You don’t need to rely on built-in tools, and can write and draw anywhere on the page. This flexibility lets you record information in any style you want.
Drawbacks of Paper Notes
Now that we’ve looked at the pros of paper notes, it’s important to also consider the drawbacks.
- Limited storage capacity: Unless you have an extensive collection of notebooks and notepads, your paper notes will eventually run out of space. Using binder or hybrid binder-notebooks can alleviate this to some degree, but you’ll still eventually run out of room.
- Hard to search and organize: Unless you’re diligent about labeling and titling your notes, finding a specific piece of information in them can be difficult. Organizing can also be difficult unless you take time to divide parts of the notebook into different subjects.
- Easily damaged: Paper notes are vulnerable to water damage, ripping, and other forms of wear and tear.
- Can be hard to read: Even if you have better than average handwriting, taking notes in a fast-paced environment can quickly turn sloppy. You may also be going back and trying to cram information in-between previous lines, making it much harder to follow.
Hybrid Options
As we mentioned earlier, there are a number of hybrid options that allow you to take notes using both paper and digital platforms.
Options include the Rocket notebook and Moleskine Smart, both of which allow you to handwrite notes that are easily scanned into digital apps. While the Rocket notebook is reusable thanks to its erasable design, the Moleskine Smart will eventually run out of room, making it a bit of a pricier option.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to taking notes, there is no one perfect method that will work for everyone. It’s important to experiment with different techniques and find what works best for you based on your individual needs and preferences.
When deciding whether paper or digital note taking is best for you, consider the benefits and drawbacks of both options as well as any hybrid solutions that may bridge the gap between them. This is particularly important if you’re planning on using your notes as part of a presentation or for taking exams.
References:
[1] Paper and Packaging. (2018). Paper and Productive Learning: The Fourth Annual Back-to-School Report. Back-to-School Report
[2] Mueller, P. & Oppenheimer, D. (2014, April). The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking. SAGE Journals