Letter to the Editor: Electronic Note-Taking

Letter to the Editor: Electronic Note-Taking

Alexis Winker, Guest Reporter

Many professors strongly believe their students are not fully comprehending the class material when note-taking occurs on a computer. However, there are numerous benefits to using technology in the classroom.

Technology has become a common tool used in today’s society, but also a major distraction. What teachers fail to notice is that laptops are not the only cause of distraction during lecture; uninterested students will find other ways to distract themselves, like playing with pens, daydreaming, and surreptitiously scrolling through Instagram on their phones.

Causing inattentiveness in other students with the use of digital devices is easily preventable by asking students using a laptop to sit in the back of the classroom. This way other students are not tempted to glance over and become distracted.

Wi-Fi going down may be another concern, but most applications, like Microsoft Word, where students should be directing their attention, do not require an internet connection. Typing also allows students to take notes faster when there is a lot of information being presented in short amounts of time. This means students will be able to obtain all of the in-class information without missing any important material.

Many teachers argue that taking hand-written notes will help their students remember the material better, but students who type their notes can hand-write them later, if they please. Not allowing students to access technology could be detrimental to class room learning. Introducing technology into the classroom can allow teachers to improve their students’ study skills and help benefit their learning.