Notes: Studying for the Leaving Certificate (date not being disclosed :-D!)
I remember studying for the Leaving Cert with a refill pad, multiple pens and coloured highlighters. I would read what I needed to learn, rewrite/paraphrase it, then colour code the different points (good old rote learning!). In later years I would go to staff meetings and jot down notes, or scribble diagrams; sometimes these would make sense to others, other times they would only talk to me. However, I also distinctly remember being annoyed when people would hand me a paper with important information – nine chances out of ten, this paper would get lost before I took the time to grab a photo of it (and think to myself, why didn’t you just email this to me).
Digital filing!
So, for a long time I typed everything. Notes, ideas, plans, reflections. Efficient, fileable and searchable. It made complete sense. But part of me knew typing didn’t help me think. Not really. Its primary purpose was to record, file and submit, which meant I was recording, not writing. My thinking didn’t really happen the way it did when I was handwriting notes. It became linear… and if I let it, less creative.
But I also couldn’t go back to paper. It felt like doubling up on my workload. Handwritten notes helped me think, but I would more than likely need to record the same notes digitally anyway, and I’d be scrolling through pages to find that one important idea on a page with no title. As much as I believe in the value of writing by hand, the thought of flicking through multiple notebooks to find something was a definitive – nope!
GenAI and the impact on our cognition
With the rapid development and widespread use of GenAI, I realised I (we) are in danger of losing our ability to think for ourselves. There was already so much noise involved in typing too – email pings and social media notifications pulling attention in every direction. I wanted distraction-free thinking and handwriting, that didn’t add to my workload.
Welcome to devices like the reMarkable Pro (and there are others too, such as Kindle Scribe or Boox Note Air)
Here is what I love the most:
- They are not trying to be everything. They are not a tablet.
- The battery lasts forever (complete exaggeration – but it can literally last days/weeks).
- No notifications popping up.
- No emails pulling my attention away.
- No “just checking something quickly” moments that turn into an hour down a rabbit hole unrelated to why I sat down in the first place.
The “turning” of “pages” is one of the aspects I do not like (RemarkablePro – too slow) but overall the value of having this quiet offline space that I can colour code, name and file has won me over. I have my thoughts back! I have my scribbling back! I have my coloured pens and highlighters back. I have my creativity somewhat safeguarded.
I can write in my own messy way, let ideas develop, cross things out, start again. But now, those notes don’t disappear into the bottom of a bag. I can organise my notes, and actually find it again using the search feature (not all of the devices have this feature).
In a world full of GenAI, I have found the ability to physically write with one of these devices to be a bridge between thinking and digital organisation that we need more than ever (and our students probably need too!).
Why handwriting still matters (it’s not just me!)
Studies show that writing by hand engages the brain in ways typing does not. It slows you down just enough to process what you’re thinking, rather than simply capturing it.
Research by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer found that people who take notes by hand tend to understand concepts more deeply than those who type. (Mueller, P.A. & Oppenheimer, D.M., ‘The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard’, Psychological Science, 25(6), 2014)
“The studies we report here show that laptop use can negatively affect performance on educational assessments, even – or perhaps especially – when the computer is used for its intended function of easier note taking.”
Other neuroscience research suggests that forming letters physically supports memory and learning in ways that typing doesn’t replicate. (Van der Weel & Van der Meer, ‘Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity’, Frontiers in Psychology, 2024)
“…handwriting may be irreplaceable when it comes to learning.”
In short, handwriting is not just about my nostalgia. It’s about cognition, and in a GenAI world, it’s about our maintaining and continuing to develop our ‘Actual Intelligence’.
A few things to consider
Of course, nothing is perfect!
These devices are expensive, which is why it took me so long to get one. For students in particular this is highly unfortunate. I think in our current education system, distraction-free handwriting, in and out of class, holds a valuable place in our AI-cognition dilemma. The benefits of digital handwriting devices could genuinely help us get the best of both worlds.
There is also the question of software. If you want to convert handwriting to text (very useful!) you usually need to use the device’s own system, which means your notes may pass through their servers. It’s worth checking you are comfortable with their data policies. I have found you can use the device offline and avoid this, but you lose some of the functionality.
Final thoughts
AI is changing how we live, how we work, how we write (or if we write!) and how we think (or if we think!). This is one solution I am finding great value in, but it may not work for everyone. Pen and paper may be working just fine for you, and that meets the research claims too.
What I am drawing attention to is the value of physically writing again. For me, a workflow that lets me do this while still being able to file and find my notes is an win (albeit an expensive win for the reMarkable Pro).