Technology Isn’t Always the Answer

Today’s students are immersed in technology. It’s become a seamless part of their lives. But is technology always the best solution? In a study published in Psychological Science, Mueller and Oppenheimer studied how note-taking by hand and by computer affects learning. What they concluded was that students who took notes by hand consistently performed better than those who took notes on the computer. (Link to the full NPR article here for more detail.) This is not to say that we should paint with a broad brush and revert back to “old-school” methods. Technology adds far too much value. But we should certainly consider that for some students in some situations old-school strategies may be more effective.