Why Reading and Writing on Paper Beat Digital Screens For Boosting Your Brain

[SheilaT]

2. About ten or so years ago,

I noticed students showing up to class with laptops upon which they'd take notes. Aside from the fact that the clicking of the keys was highly annoying to me, I figured out after a bit that those who took electronic notes tended to be the poorest students in class. Now I know why.

I am a huge believer in taking notes on paper, if I want to remember something. I'm also a some-time writer of science fiction, and while I write strictly via a keyboard (typewriter in the old days, computer now), I always print out my drafts and edit manually. I just cannot figure out electronic editing, especially can't figure out how I'm supposed to transfer those electronic edits into my own electronic version of my manuscript.

Every time I see a video of some little kid who can't figure out how to turn the page in a physical book because he's only seen electronic ones, I'm not charmed, but distressed. Oh, and maybe the move to supply all school kids with tablets or computers or whatever, really isn't that good an idea after all.