Facebook vs note-taking
Although computers have changed the face of University Education, I still find it remarkable how many students take notes by hand rather than on a laptop. I know my personal reasons. They have to do with distractions.
And now I realize I may not be the only one. I have now realized that most students on laptops during lectures are multitasking… or are just off topic.
However, I’m also aware that a lot of people don’t type quite as fast as I do so taking notes with hand is probably faster.
I really wish I could conduct an observational study on the prevalence of facebook logins during lectures by computer equipped individuals.
Kallen is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Journalism at the University of Oregon and, of course, writing a blog.
lk said,
March 3, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
If an observational study isn’t doable, how about a survey. I notice that a lot of students simply seem unable to attend to only one thing at a time. (working with the younger set, I see a lot of hair braiding, doodling, etc.) Is the facebook activity a necessary distraction just to keep people from “spacing out”?
Or maybe taking notes on a computer seems like it might be a good idea, but the resulting notes are not useful?
For taking usuable notes check out this template of the Cornell note taking system:
http://www.clt.cornell.edu/campus/learn/LSC_Resources/cornellsystem.pdfv
Taylor Dewey said,
March 4, 2008 @ 1:10 pm
@lk : What is the “cue” column for on the Cornell system?
lk said,
March 4, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
I may not have linked the best explanation of the system. the cue section is where the student should reduce the gist of the lecture into keywords or cues to study from.
There is a lot more detailed info about this method elsewhere on the web. printable templates too… google. It was originally devised by Cornell Ed prof, Walter Pauk, back in the 50’s!
Jake said,
June 13, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
Well, since I work for a note software company, we’d like to know what you find if you ever conduct a study like that! Do you see a lot of people in your classroom actually taking notes on a laptop? What percentage would you say are? Maybe the key is for us to have a note software developed for Facebook…then people could do both!
Jake