Digital vs. Traditional Note-Taking: Which Is Better for You?
Written by Lauren Smyth
Economics professor Dr. Gary Wolfram has a framed cocktail napkin in his office (among many other interesting things). On the napkin is an upside-down bowl-shaped graph depicting the relationship between tax rates and revenue. It was drawn by renowned economist Arthur Laffer, and although this isn’t the original napkin, legend has it that Laffer first developed his groundbreaking theory on another, equally unceremonious napkin. This is proof of something besides tax policy: You can take notes anywhere, on anything.
What’s possible, however, isn’t always best. Maybe napkins are the proper tools for developing economic theories, but—on a totally related note—what’s the best way to take notes as a college student?
At Hillsdale, most students prefer to use paper. There’s a rivalry between specific types of paper (which we’ll come to in a moment) but computers and tablets are a relative rarity. Sometimes, that’s due to class policy. In Hillsdale’s small classes, electronics could be more of a distraction than a help. Students and professors don’t like peering through a forest of laptop screens to see each other, so some professors may ban them altogether. Some students feel more organized when they use paper thanks to the tactile feedback of flipping through the pages. Others are worried about losing or breaking their electronics. Some don’t like the smoothness of the digital pencils, and others don’t think they’re worth the cost.
I take about half my notes digitally and half traditionally. This noncommittal system works for me, but it doesn’t solve the question of whether students should prioritize buying notebooks or iPads. So I asked a few of my classmates about their routines.
Lloyd Rowland, ’23, takes notes on his laptop. (Since he just graduated, he probably knows what he’s doing.) “I cannot keep up with the lecture using paper,” he said. “And secondly, it makes organizing and transporting [notes] WAY easier than carrying a ton of paper in binders.”
On the other side of the debate, Gwen Thompson, ’25, handwrites her notes on steno pads. “I like that they’re small and compact,” she says. “Having the ring binding up top means it doesn’t get bent and tear everything to shreds when you have to wedge it into your bag. And … they’re cheap!”
Abigail Snyder, ’24, is somewhere in the middle with her iPad and Apple Pencil. “Digital note-taking allows me to get the benefit of handwriting my notes, which has scientific benefits for learning and retention,” she said, “while also ensuring they are safe and easily accessible for years to come, stored in the internet cloud and never taking up physical space.”
This diversity of opinions explains why I haven’t committed fully to either system. I’ve found digital note-taking is best for short notes and homework that I don’t review often and anything that requires a lot of erasing. But I prefer paper for most of my in-class notes.
Let’s start with digital. The pros are obvious: You carry an infinite ream of paper wherever you go, you have flawless handwriting, and you can easily organize, format, and change your notes. But there are cons, too: Professors don’t always allow it, electronics can be distracting, and the tactile sensation of paper is gone. If you use a laptop, there are additional issues: You can’t draw, your typing may be noisy, and everyone behind you can see and copy what you’re writing. So, if you’re going digital—especially if you’re taking science courses requiring formulas and graphs, at least four of which are required in Hillsdale’s core curriculum—I recommend investing in a tablet and stylus.
If you’re wondering which device to purchase, I have just three words: Palm. Rejection. Stylus. Whether you’re an Apple or Android fan, you want to purchase a tablet compatible with the type of stylus that allows you to rest your palm on the screen while you’re writing. That narrows the search to Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft products, so you can pick your favorite system.
Now for traditional note-taking. One of the biggest advantages is that your professor knows you can’t be doing anything with your notebook but doodling or writing. That may not seem like a big deal, but at Hillsdale, where professors and students often enjoy a much closer relationship than at larger colleges, it can make or break the class dynamic.
If you’re going to take traditional notes, what type of notebook or paper should you use? Of course, there are the usual college-ruled spiral-bound notebooks. There’s also graph paper. Dot grid paper. Large notebooks. Small notebooks. Hardback notebooks. Binders with loose-leaf. If you can think of it, it exists.
Different departments at Hillsdale have different recommendations. If you’re in economics (like me), you’ll almost certainly take a course from Dr. Roger Butters. He believes that students with the best grades typically use loose-leaf engineering paper, a binder, and a pencil. That way, he says, notes are organized, not susceptible to water damage, and easy to reshuffle. This system is both effective and very heavy. I’ve used it in all my economics classes so far, but because the binders are inconvenient to carry, I haven’t extended it to other subjects.
Lined paper is typically a good option for notes that consist mostly of words, not graphs or pictures. In the Great Books core classes, for example, you probably won’t need to draw much, but you’ll be writing extensively. You might want a small spiral notebook to save space.
There are also a few unconventional options. A student in my American Heritage class took notes on a special notebook with only a few pages that could be completely erased. He’d finish writing, snap a picture of the pages, and wipe the pages clean with water. This gave him the benefits of not carrying an iPad to class and digitizing his notes (with image-to-text) later. This probably won’t work for most, but it’s an alternative for those not fully satisfied by either digital or traditional notes.
In the end, it all comes down to what’s most comfortable for you. If you’re OK with bringing an iPad to some classes and a notebook to others, digital note-taking may be the way to go. If you’d rather keep all your notes in one place, prepare for professors who don’t allow electronics and buy a five-subject notebook.
Or, if you want to channel your inner economic theorist, how about a pack of cocktail napkins?
Lauren Smyth, ’25, is a prospective political economy major and French minor. Outside of starting arguments in philosophy class, she enjoys curling up on a bench outdoors (sun, rain, or snow) to write novels or articles for her blog, www.laurensmythbooks.com.
Published in June 2023