taking notes by hand

Yesterday's discussion was a good opportunity to review our class note-taking/blogging policy, and the theory behind this policy (the method to my madness, you might say).

First, here is an article that explains why I insist that you take notes by hand. In short, the author says "...students learn less when they use computers or tablets during lectures. They also tend to earn worse grades." Since I want you guys to learn, and to succeed, I feel this approach is justified. Here is the article, titled "Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting."

Transcribing your notes to your blog means you are "revisiting" the information you learned in that day's class. Hopefully, you remember certain things about that information, other than what was written on a particular slide (a story I told about ancient Greece, or a question asked by a student, for example).

Plus, you get points for doing the blog, and doing it well! We will have over seventy class periods this semester, meaning nearly 150 points worth of blogs. You have the ability to get an exceptionally high score on a significantly large portion of your grade, simply by blogging daily. Of course, you maximize your learning by revising your notes (rewording, adding a map, telling your own anecdote, or even putting in your own opinion).