Balancing Technology:

To be digital,
or not to be digital?
 As a science nerd…
Let’s start with what does the reasearch say
about student learning…
 ◦ The process of writing notes by hand
is thought to be closely associated with
encoding and thus, hand-written notes
are generally believed to be associated
Computer vs
with better recall than notes taken on a
Paper
computer or other device

◦ Olive and Barbier 2017 Patterson and

Patterson 2017

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 Aguilar-Roca et al.
Several classroom- 2012
based studies have
Carter, Greenberg and
demonstrated that
Walker 2017
Research students who choose to
take notes digitally do
Fried 2008
worse than their paper
note-taking peers Patterson and Patterson
2017

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 ◦ Patterson and Patterson (2017) suggest
that students in courses with a high
degree of quantitative, mathematical,
Computer vs
or graphical content may experience a
Paper
greater penalty from taking notes on
computers than students in more
verbally oriented courses

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 BUT…
Does this mean that we should revert to all
handwritten activities and stay off of
computers?

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 Kirschner and
Karpinski (2010)

Computers vs Students who are These same students

are then more likely
This may not be
causal but is
prone to
Paper distractability and to perform poorly in definitely correlated
lower impulse the class overall
control tend to even when
choose computers controlled for other
over paper factors

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 “
Patterson and Patterson (2017) show some
differential performance based on gender,
race, and ability level. We find that students
who choose to take notes on the computer may
be poorer students overall

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 Students are strongly
opposed to such laptop Students also view
bans computers in the
Ban Devices? classroom positively
Brady 2009
Zhuang and Xiao 2018
Young 2006

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 Granberg and Witte (2005), for example,
find little statistical evidence to support a
Ban Devices? classroom ban on laptops despite the
widespread evidence that computers pose
significant potential for distraction

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Conclusion When all other factors are accounted for,
computer note taking does NOT have a
Artz, Johnson, statistically significant impact on student
Robeson & recognition, as measured by performance
Taegnoi on multiple choice quizzes and exams

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12
 Reasons to Use Tech Reasons NOT to Use Tech

Makes activities quick, easy and Off task behaviors such as internet
efficient - 30-80% faster surfing, games, social media

Interactive, visually stimulating Difficult to monitor a whole class of

devices
Fosters collabortive work even on
Pros & Cons individual devices Technical difficulties with hardware
and/or software and/or firewall
issues
Devices Easy to include colors, movement,
animations, etc
Destructive behaviors of students

Easy to get the latest new tools, Have to stay up to date on latest
resources - constantly evolving software, apps – constantly updating
assignment

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 Reasons to Use Paper Reasons NOT to Use Paper

Easy to monitor Not as engaging or interactive

No technical issues, can be used “Kills trees” – typically lots of paper

without devices, electricity or wi-fi used

Resources never “disappear” or stop Can’t color code printed materials

Pros & Cons working without color printer

Harder for students to cheat, copy or Problems when copiers go down

Paper plagiarize
Must be updated manually
Only option for some special needs,
Perceived as not “cool”
concussions, loss of privileges or
restrictions

Never worry about students being

able to do homework

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 Thus, given the ever-increasing use of
digital devices in the classroom and the
widely acknowledged importance of note
taking (and practice) to learning,
Conclusion
educators should perhaps consider how
students can maximize their chance of
success
Fried 2008

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Classroom Management
Keeping things moving

Student Engagement
Keeping kids motivated

What Are My Choices?

They are endless

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Klenk.weebly.com

Go to Workshops
Paper v Computers

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