The vast majority of students rely on laptops – and increasingly AI – to help with their university work. But a small number are going analogue and eschewing tech almost entirely in a bid to re-engage their brains
The vast majority of students rely on laptops – and increasingly AI – to help with their university work. But a small number are going analogue and eschewing tech almost entirely in a bid to re-engage their brains
Title is misleading:
The second sentence contradicts the first:
then
So basically he’s not taking a laptop in to the lecture hall to take notes etc but is still using a computer to complete his work. Which makes sense as pen & paper in that environment is way more practical anyway.
All assignments are submitted electronically now, and if he’s in philosophy, he will also have to follow formatting requirements like font, font size, margins, and spacing. Practically, he’s doing as much as he is allowed off-computer.
They’re still using computers to do their university work and submit it though. It’s more about them not using a laptop in a lecture hall and using pen and paper instead. That’s not really a big deal considering that’s probably what most people were doing anyway up until relatively recently.
Honestly I used to do the same a decade ago in engineering before changing majors mainly cause my laptop was a fucking brick.
Yeah, the way he does it is basically how everyone did it even 10 years ago. The tools were mostly the same then as they are now, with the exception of AI and the fact that handwriting wasn’t as big a thing anymore when today’s undergrads were in school. If you have a fluid and moderately quick handwriting, paper notes will typically be easier to take and more useful for revising the material later on.
Studies have also shown that taking notes by writing causes better learning outcomes compared to typing.
Can confirm, switched away from laptop notes to incomprehensible-to-others fountain pen writing. Writing is the important part anyway.
That’s only true if you don’t refer to your notes. Reviewing notes has a much stronger correlation to remembering than how those notes are generated.
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For rote memorization, sure.
I’m more talking about conceptual things, say, in math. You don’t need to memorize it, but you do need to remember how it works. For that, I find the textbook to be the most helpful, and class time is to help understand the textbook. For that type of thing, I don’t need to reference my notes in the future, I mostly need to pay attention in class and revisit the material again later to make sure I got it. Handwriting can help with that type of retention.
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Maybe he’s lugging a massive typewriter around.
I’ve got images of the lecturer giving him death stares every time he starts typing, filling the room with the cliter-clatter of the keys.
It’s great because it’s audible when the lecturer can continue or when not takers are still catching up.
that is hipster
mayb he takes notes with a quill and ink. Dab…dab…dab…
I used to take my laptop into the lecture hall but I hardly ever actually used it.
Same. I mostly used it for homework between classes.
I found the most effective strategy for me was to do the reading before class, bring the book in to refer to, listen intently for things I didn’t get from the book, and reread the section after class. If the professor specifically called out something to take notes on, I’d either do that on my phone or pull out my laptop (esp just before midterms or finals).
My handwriting is awful and I almost never refer to my notes anyway.
Exactly how does he research his essays without internet access?
Well you see he’s stopped using the internet for his university work. But he still uses the internet for research for his essays.