If you're a student looking for the most advanced learning machine available, give laptops a pass—and pick up an age-old notebook.
You'll absorb and retain more information if you take notes by hand, according to a study by UCLA, giving you an edge on your tests.
That spiral-bound stack of paper has other advantages, too: You can't zone out on Facebook and Instagram during a lecture, so you are more likely to stay focused.
Putting pen to paper requires a different kind of mental processing than typing does. Sure, typing on a laptop gives you the power to record a lecture nearly word for word—but transcribing verbatim is associated with what's called "shallow cognitive processing." The words may be captured on your screen, but they basically went in one ear and out the other.
Also, your notebook doesn't run Fortnite.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 10 2019, @04:23AM
The point is that sitting in lecture without taking notes is basically pointless. Perhaps if the instructor uses a style of lesson that involves plenty of interaction or group work, showing up without taking notes might make sense. But, it was the kiss of death to actual learning in that class.
And no, the existence of materials elsewhere isn't an argument against going to lectures in the first place, people have had access to those materials for decades and possibly even centuries via libraries and assigned readings. The point of attending lectures is that the instructor cuts through that and prioritizes the things that need to be learned. They probably also present it in a different way from what's on the net or in publications.
As far inferior lectures, if the notes cover the entirety of the lecture, then yes, they are inferior lectures. A good lecturer covers the material, but also adjusts and elaborates when the people attending need that. A proper set of notes for a lecture can't be had until after the lecture is completed. This is one of the reasons why a common accommodation is for a different student in the class to take notes on a carbon copy set up.