Typing is not as stimulating to the brain as writing by hand

We come from a generation of people which didn't use tech devices for note-taking during our schooling years. 

Our trusted pen and paper allowed us to get through our schooling careers and most people can say the same about their tertiary education. 

But over time, naturally, things progressed and we found that students began using smart devices to take their notes. We know that is not true of students in South Africa, who are still required to take their notes with pen and paper. 

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Well, it seems we aren't the only ones who believe that our trusty pen and paper are more than just a means of taking notes. 

"After recording the brain activity of 36 university students, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology determined that handwriting might improve learning and memory. At the start of the experiment, the students were told to either write words in cursive using a digital pen on a touchscreen, or to type the same words using a keyboard. When a word such as “forest” or “hedgehog” appeared on a screen in front of them, they had 25 seconds to write or type it over and over." (NBC News)

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Glancing at the findings, we can firmly agree that writing down notes has traditionally been a successful way of recording what you are learning in your memory. 

Audrey van der Meer, the study’s co-author and a neuropsychology professor at NTNU, said: "Our main finding was that handwriting activates almost the whole brain as compared to typewriting, which hardly activates the brain as such. The brain is not challenged very much when it’s pressing keys on a keyboard as opposed to when it’s forming those letters by hand." (NBC News)

We have to concur from our own experience with typing versus writing. How often do you remember what you typed out word for word? We cannot say we remember it with clarity. 

Over and above the research, we also feel like the things that used to work are making comebacks - and for all the right reasons. 

You can always rely on pen and paper, run out of ink, and replace it cost-effectively. But with tech devices that's not always the case. You cannot just pull out a spare laptop or tablet from your bag when the one you are using fails to function...

So, what do you think about it?

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