Despite education department ambassadors saying students learn best using technology and pen and paper, Charlie Wood said he prefers using a pen and paper.
Education department ambassadors said using both technology and pen and paper to learn produces the best academic results for students.
“Generally, I think students learn better when they use a combination of both technology and pen and paper,” said Sydnee Mull, a senior and student ambassador for the education department at UNCA from Pennsylvania.
Mull said using technology and pen and paper to learn both have significant advantages. She said a benefit of using technology lies in its versatility in keeping students engaged.
“Technology has so many ways of keeping students engaged in content from educational games to videos and other forms of engagement through learning. It is incredibly beneficial for students to be able to use technology in a way that helps them learn instead of as a distraction or source of misinformation,” Mull said.
The education department ambassador said using pen and paper offers a benefit due to its usefulness for retaining information.
“Psychological studies have shown that in terms of retaining information, pen and paper is highly beneficial for students. Note taking electronically does not have the same benefits as taking notes by hand as repetition of writing helps to retain the information in a way typing cannot,” Mull said.
Ellen Pearson, professor of history at UNCA with 23 years of teaching experience and 10 years of experience in digital liberal arts said students learn better through using technology.
“The current generation can learn better in the digital world simply because they have an understanding of how they are navigating it,” Pearson said.
The history professor said students spend the majority of their time in her classes using technology.
“The average student in my classes spends probably 90% of their time doing work on their laptops or other digital tools,” Pearson said. “In my digital history classes, probably more than that.”
Pearson said she requires her students to complete their work and assignments electronically too.
“I require all of my assignments to be submitted through Moodle as an electronic assignment, so all their assignments have to be electronically digitally created,” Pearson said.
The professor with 23 years of experience in education and 10 years of experience in digital liberal arts education said education changing from being pen-and-paper-orientated to technology-orientated represents a positive change.
“The change has been for the better as that’s the way the world has gone. If we were to insist that our students do things without technology, then we would not be preparing our students for the careers that are available in the mid-21st century and we wouldn’t be preparing our students for life,” Pearson said.
Charlie Wood, a 22-year-old student from England majoring in health sciences at UNCA said he prefers to use pen and paper instead of technology.
“Using technology all the time and staring at a screen all day in every class and for every homework assignment gives me headaches,” Wood said.
The Englishman said he experienced technical issues when using technology which proved inconvenient.
“Technology comes with so many issues. I’ve had times when my work hasn’t saved or it’s somehow deleted which is super frustrating,” Wood said.
The 21-year-old said using pen and paper instead of technology helps him learn and remember content much easier.
“I feel I retain much more information when I write it than when I type it,” Wood said.
The health sciences major said using technology in the classroom hinders collaboration with his peers.
“Because we use technology so much, we never do any group work in class. I barely know the names of anyone sitting next to me in class,” Wood said.
Wood said the way technology currently functions in the classroom does not best prepare students for their futures.
“People say technology is so important for our careers but in class we just sit at our individual desks, and we’re glued to our laptops. I don’t understand how that’s preparing students for their careers at all,” Wood said.
Mull said social interaction plays a crucial role in adolescent development, which should not be overshadowed by the use of technology.
“Students require social interaction as it is a key part of adolescent development and social-emotional learning. If education ever went completely online permanently and relied solely on technology, that would be the end of education,” Mull said.
The senior student said technology bears responsibility for the lack of social interaction seen in schools today.
“Many of the problems being seen in school now are results of technology use during the pandemic and the lack of social interaction for students. Humans are social creatures, it’s as simple as that,” Mull said.
