The Power of the Pen: Why Handwriting Still Matters for Learning

In a world where we increasingly learn, communicate and create using digital devices, it is worth asking: Does handwriting still have a place in learning?

To answer this question, we need to begin with the fact that learning is not simply about receiving information. For new information to become part of long-term memory, we need to actively process it, connect it to what we already know and retrieve it again over time. Our working memory, the mental space we use to hold and think about new information, is limited. If information is not meaningfully processed, it can quickly be forgotten. This is where handwritten note-taking can be particularly valuable.

In their influential 2014 study, Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer compared students who took notes by hand with those who used laptops. They found that students taking handwritten notes performed better on conceptual questions. Typing and recording notes using a digital device may allow students to record information more quickly than the alternative of slowly constructing handwritten notes, however it removes the opportunity for students to make decisions about what is important, summarise ideas and put information into their own words. When we put pen to paper we are no longer simply recording information, but rather we are making active decisions about what is important and why.

Cognitive Load Theory, developed by Australian educational psychologist John Sweller, highlights that working memory has a limited capacity, while long-term memory can store an enormous amount of knowledge. New information must initially be processed through working memory before it can become part of our long-term knowledge. Learning therefore depends on students being able to process new information without overwhelming this limited cognitive capacity.

This is where handwritten note-taking becomes interesting. Typing is considerably faster than handwriting. This can be useful because students can capture large amounts of information. However, speed can also encourage students to transcribe information almost word for word, without necessarily thinking deeply about what they are recording. When we make choices about what we write and don’t write, we deepen the encoding of this information.

In a 2024 study, neuroscientists Ruud van der Weel and Audrey van der Meer examined the difference in brain activity during handwriting and typing and found considerably more widespread brain connectivity during handwriting, including patterns associated with memory formation and the encoding of new information. This does not mean that handwriting magically transfers information from working memory into long-term memory. But it does suggest that handwriting can provide a valuable opportunity for deeper processing.

Because writing is slower, students have to make choices: What is important? How would I explain this? What does this connect to? Those decisions require active cognitive engagement.

When students decide what matters, they are developing resourcefulness. When they organise and reflect on their understanding, they are deepening their reflectiveness. When they wrestle with trying to understand and remember something new, they are stretching their ability to persist.

So, while technology has an important place in education, it should be noted that putting pen to paper can help to move towards building knowledge that lasts and growing learning habits that will be with them for a lifetime.

Nicole Smith
Head of Learning Culture

Further Reading:

Flanigan, A. E., Wheeler, J., Colliot, T., Lu, J., & Kiewra, K. A. (2024). Typed versus handwritten lecture notes and college student achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 36, Article 78.

Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25(6).

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.

Van der Weel, F. R. R., & Van der Meer, A. L. H. (2024). Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: A high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom. Frontiers in Psychology, 14.