Laptop vs Paper: the Battle Between Learning Methods

AISG has adapted to a system of combining the traditional teaching methods of a teacher in a classroom leading students with the revolutionized use of laptops, which has become a widespread method through many developed countries today. Not only has the laptop replaced note taking, in its most basic and initial form, but it’s also become a relied-upon tool for presenting content, researching information, and even uploading homework. We have taken great advantage of the boundless borders of the internet with the addition of such beneficial learning tools, and gradually, have become dependent on the use of such technology.

Over the period of only half a decade, the internet has become an immense field of varied sources, ranging from sciences to literature, and from literature to sports. Many have even long forgotten the days of paper and pens, when heavy textbooks occupied every corner of our classrooms. However, as we have become dependent on the technological advantages computers have brought to our classrooms, valuable abilities such as calculating math by hand or mind and collecting information from authentic prints have been lost. In a learning environment that relies heavily on technology, there is much gained through ease, yet much lost through simplicity, sparking a battle between laptop and paper.

Nearly a decade ago, students were still straining their backs and leaning on their toes to carry around several-thousand page textbooks. Now, a light laptop carried easily in the arms of a student or professional of any age has the ability to solve almost any problem in seconds, including dilemmas that could have taken hours or even days a few years before. The internet has shaped a virtual reality platform that provides incredible services. Utilized in many math classrooms, programs such as GeoGebra, Logger Pro and Desmos are all digital applications that complete complex calculations at the press of a few keys. Evernote, on the other hand, has brought note taking to the same level as a child’s game, tying in words and sentences that are instantly uploaded to a server on the other side of the world, preventing not only any loss of data but also any potential theft of information.

However, on the opposite of any side of an attracting magnet is another negatively repelling pole. Technology has brought a handful of substantial benefits to teachers and students, yet the skills of doing work by hand have become a relic to many. Those who object to the idea of bringing one-to-one laptop programs into futuristic classrooms connected to the web are not solely arguing to bring back pencil-and-paper instruction, but backing up the many studies done on the overuse of and dependency on technology. Research has shown that one in every 25 teens has an “irresistible urge” to use the internet. 17% of teenage boys and 13% of teenage girls use the internet for over 20 hours every week—that’s nearly, on average, three hours per day. The internet may be a storehouse of information, but it is not a haven from threats. Overuse of internet is also an addiction used to relieve stress, negative emotions, and depression, but ironically, these can also be a consequence of the overuse of computers.

Other than obsessively using computers to access the internet serving as a potential hazard, the laptop becomes a replacement for the traditional paper and pen, rather than what many perceive to be an “alternative”. No, the laptop is not an alternative to traditional paper and pen, although it may be able to simulate a learning process very similar to that conducted on paper. However, it takes away some benefits hidden beneath the complaints of soreness in writing hands. Not only does writing on paper better foster the use of vocabulary and development of grammar with spelling (the invention of autocorrect has taken away such learning opportunities), but also the ability to overcome challenges without seeking “answers” from Yahoo! Answers or ChaCha.

To name all the benefits and difficulties associated with the use of laptops vs. paper and pen could be a lengthy process, but at the end of the story, the final choice depends on personal opinion and preference. Some, purely for the pleasure of enjoying fresh technological products, prefer the use of a laptop in the classroom, while others may pursue traditional methods of learning through writing. The contribution of technology to the convenience of our daily lives in completing tasks cannot be ignored, but many times, we are distracted or sometimes even blinded by the gains, and neglect the loss that takes place behind our backs.