Hand written vs. typed notes?

[Jla791]

Hello,

This is a bit of an odd topic but I thought maybe some of you would have some input. Ever since I could remember my hand written notes has affected my learning significantly in a bad way. My hand writing isn’t horrible but it isn’t neat, every time I try and take notes in lecture or even at home, it takes hours for a few pages or I just end up giving up because I get frustrusted. My problem is, is that I always start over if it starts getting too ugly which is 100% if the time.

My questions are, 1) Do you use hand written notes or types notes, and what are the benefits or complications with your method. And also, 2) Do types notes still provide good learning measures? I know many study’s that state hand written notes prove to be better for memorization.. but in my case, if I type all my notes do you think I’ll be able to still recall information even though I’m not writing?

Anyway, just wanted some input since I’m very tempted to switch to typing. I’d appreciate all input!

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[Phile98]

The gold standard is to first hand write the notes, and then create a more organized typed version.

 

[MissGamerMD]

A good compromise is the iPad plus apple pen. I've found that most efficient for my purposes - allows me to write on powerpoints etc which makes a nice combination of the slides plus my own notes, and keeps it all in the cloud so I don't need to worry about carrying paper. I can get away with just carrying my ipad + pen and maybe my laptop if I have a typing-heavy day.

 

[Jla791]

How would I organize the hand written notes? I wanted to start writing notes during lecture

A good compromise is the iPad plus apple pen. I've found that most efficient for my purposes - allows me to write on powerpoints etc which makes a nice combination of the slides plus my own notes, and keeps it all in the cloud so I don't need to worry about carrying paper. I can get away with just carrying my ipad + pen and maybe my laptop if I have a typing-heavy day.

Do you think an apple pen would be beneficial to me if I have the issue of bad hand writing? I can see how an iPad would be a bit more beneficial to memorization since technically it’s still using the hand to help process the information, but then the issue of my annoyance with my hand writing is still there :/

 

[Phile98]

Do you think an apple pen would be beneficial to me if I have the issue of bad hand writing? I can see how an iPad would be a bit more beneficial to memorization since technically it’s still using the hand to help process the information, but then the issue of my annoyance with my hand writing is still there :/

This and the fact that a good iPad is $700, plus the pen which is another $100.

 

[MissGamerMD]

How would I organize the hand written notes? I wanted to start writing notes during lecture


Do you think an apple pen would be beneficial to me if I have the issue of bad hand writing? I can see how an iPad would be a bit more beneficial to memorization since technically it’s still using the hand to help process the information, but then the issue of my annoyance with my hand writing is still there :/

There are some really good ones with handwriting recognition that can convert to typed text (probably even for yours!). I don't use those features myself but it could be worth it to look into.

I got the iPad pro but as far as I know the budget iPad is also apple pen compatible and it runs a lot less than $700. I'm in Canada so your prices would be even cheaper than ours. If the money is an issue, you could try printing slides/typed notes and annotating directly on them. That could still help with your retention while minimizing the effects of your handwriting!

 

[MissGamerMD]

And a lot of apps let you make "notebooks" so you can organize notes by day, class, subject, etc. There are many youtube tutorials if you want to look a bit more into it.

 

[a5ie5lavida]

I use Notability where I handwrite my notes with the Apple Pencil. I retain better when I handwrite, as I’m sure most people do. But with the app it’s pretty easy to make it look neat because it’s easy to erase, move things around, add things, etc. My handwriting isn’t great but writing on the iPad is really smooth and I can make the weight of the lines thicker to make it look neater.

 

[ebno]

Not sure how it compares to the iPad Pro price-wise but the Surface Pro is a nice device coupled with OneNote. I make handwritten notes on there and then type them up in Google Docs.

Oh and I used to be caught up in how my notes looked like like you but I started making my notes purposely sloppy to get over it. Now I'm probably the only one who can read them but they feel more "me".

 

[21Rush12]

I used 10¢ notebooks from target for first year, then an iPad for second year. It made searching much easier, overall as a handwritten note taker I expected the transition to be harder but it was honestly fine. I went back to handwritten for dedicated so I could highlight and get the bonus of memorizing/spatial memory. You’ll be fine either way and neither choice is permanent. Being able to switch up your learning style to find what works is the most important skill you need to develop pre-clinically.