# Pen or keyboard? Paper or Digital? Notebook or Laptop? Preferred study methods



## Darryl Le Roux (May 4, 2016)

Good afternoon all. 

So, after a small stint with fountain pens over the past 2 years, I am starting to wonder which of the two mediums are the best...

I am in my final year of studies, and have an rather large amount of reading and writing to do, so I am trying to slim down the efforts a bit, and find the most convenient way of note taking of my assigned reading materials. However, I find myself switching between the two. 

I am using a Shaeffer on Tomoe River paper as my preferred writing materials, and my digital are an Acer laptop and an iPad air. I am using Evernote as my preferred software. I really don't need much except a word processor able to do bullet points 

My question is more of intrigue than for help. Which is your preferred method of study? If so, why? How does it provide a greater benefit over the other?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.


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## Jake (May 4, 2016)

There was an interesting podcast on Freakonomics on whether handwriting or typing is better for studying/retention purposes: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/who-needs-handwriting/

They essentially found it's a function of how much you take summary notes versus verbatim notes, where people who take more verbatim notes (generally using either typing or shorthand where it's feasible) have less retention because you're thinking less about what is said as you do note taking. 

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Evernote and keep pretty much everything there.


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## Bill The Baptist (May 4, 2016)

When I was in seminary, I preferred to take notes by hand rather than on a computer because I can write much faster than I can type. It was not uncommon for those seated around me to ask me what the professor had just said because they were behind with their typing.


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## Jake (May 4, 2016)

Bill, I'll add that based on my comments, I'm assuming with typing people can do so faster than they can write, which seemed to be the assumption of the podcast. I guess that's not always the case.


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## Edward (May 4, 2016)

I would think it would depend, on some extent, on the teaching style. If the prof is linear and lectures from an outline, it would probably be fairly easy to outline your notes on the computer as you go along. If the prof is non-linear or socratic, it's probably easier to take notes by hand so you can draw arrows and circles to connect up various thoughts on the page.


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## Bill The Baptist (May 4, 2016)

Jake said:


> Bill, I'll add that based on my comments, I'm assuming with typing people can do so faster than they can write, which seemed to be the assumption of the podcast. I guess that's not always the case.



Well I type fairly slowly, probably around 20-30 wpm, and I write very quickly.


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## Darryl Le Roux (May 4, 2016)

I type way faster than I write though, and hearing that podcast, I identify with the last example in the intro, I think faster than I write. 

I also write in cursive due to the delving into fountain pens I have done, it looks far neater. But I feel that they just don't serve the purpose for note taking. Or even for interaction with a book I am reading. 

I would really love for the pen and paper to be the norm for both studies, and future workings in preparation for sermons or papers, but it just cannot better the keyboard for me in terms of simplicity and ease. Which is odd considering that all one needs to write, is a pen and paper and not much else.


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## Bill The Baptist (May 4, 2016)

Darryl Le Roux said:


> I also write in cursive due to the delving into fountain pens I have done, it looks far neater



I think the secret to writing quickly is to be unconcerned with neatness. My handwriting is very bad, and in fact sometimes even I will have trouble deciphering what I have scribbled on the page.


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## reaganmarsh (May 4, 2016)

I had significantly better retention when I handwrote my notes vs. when I typed them. I found that I do best when printing the professor's handouts and jotting my own notes around what he's provided. And Bill is right -- my writing is barely legible, but it's there and I can (usually) decipher it. I can't use a nice pen for notetaking, I've learned; I must get rid of distractions (even fun ones like a fountain pen) so that my full focus is on the lecture.


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## Darryl Le Roux (May 4, 2016)

Does the barely legible writing not throw you off slightly, in that it would take more effort to decipher it, proving to be a distraction in itself? 

I think I need the clean lines for limited distraction. So I don't sit and judge every letter that is smaller, or larger than the next. That being said, my writing is not terribly slow, perhaps 30 WPM. More than half my typing speed, but far more enjoyable. 

Perhaps I place the emphasis too much on the instruments, especially the paper...but then again, it comes with the territory of the fountain pen allure.


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## VictorBravo (May 4, 2016)

I use a tablet PC (not a tablet) and Microsoft OneNote with handwriting or typing, as the circumstances dictate. (Not the cloud version).

Even with my scrawl, the majority of my handwritten notes are searchable with OneNote. I've also used Evernote but they eliminated the free handwriting recognition several years ago. 

I'm not attending lectures these days, but during witness interviews and depositions, I use it with handwriting to note major ideas and short quotes for follow up. Later I can extract random notes and put them in particular order.

I like the tabbed hierarchy organization of OneNote better than the layout of Evernote.

Of course, it's a Microsoft product tied in with MS Office, which turns some people off. But MS OneNote has been a solid application for more than a decade.


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## Lux (May 20, 2016)

It really depends on what I am doing. If I'm doing a Bible study then I'll write my notes down with a pen. I prefer a fountain pen because I typically find it's easier on the hand over longer periods of time.

If I have to write, say, an essay out, I'll use my PC. 

I find I absorb the information better when I'm writing it down because it's just a longer process that gives me longer to consider what I'm writing, if that makes sense.


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