Writing on Screens vs. Paper

Over the course of the last twenty years, I’ve been especially interested in tracking with youth culture trends that are related to the emergence of a host of new technologies and technological tools. A new study of Japanese college students has revealed that writing on a physical piece of paper can actually serve as a better path to information recall than writing on a tablet or smartphone. It seems that when writing on paper as opposed to a screen, the human brain engages in ways that are more complex, thus leading to improved memory. In addition, it was found that taking notes on paper is actually about twenty-five percent faster than taking notes on a screen. Could it be that old-school paper is more effective for note-taking than our screens? Yes. And that goes against what many believe to be the case. Here at CPYU we encourage balancing the use of physical paper and books for reading and writing, with reading and writing on screens. Encourage balance in your kids.