Yup, the pen trumps keyboards when it comes to learning
Is the pen mightier than the keyboard?
Yes, according to two Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) scientists, who say that using a pen triggers the brain in a way that makes it more ready to learn.
During a two-month-long research project, neuropsychologists Audrey van der Meer and Ruud van der Weel studied brain activity in subjects typing and taking notes by hand.
"We wanted to gather evidence about what was going inside the brain when you type or when you write," said van der Meer.
Subjects wore electroencephalography (EEG) nets with some 256 sensors on each, while typing a description of a word, then using a pen to draw it.
"When the students were drawing the word we saw that the brain was active in larger areas and also in a very particular way that is indicative of being beneficial for learning," said van der Weel.
The researchers found that when your motor skills are involved, the way nerve cells communicated with each other was found to be better for processing information, he explained.
Van der Meer added that using a pen in the process of writing or drawing is often slower than typing -- forcing people to process what they're hearing or seeing, compared with passively typing.
"When you're writing you can't write so fast so then you have to kind of process the information and select what to write, so there's some processing [taking place] instead of merely copying," she said.
The study comes as more schools turn to IT tools for learning.
One high school in Texas on Wednesday announced that it planned to supply each of its students, from kindergarten to high school, with their own personal laptops.
Van der Meer said the study's findings don't mean that people should go back "to living in the Stone Age."
"We're not saying to throw away all the computers...or even to go back to using pen and paper, but we're living in a digital age where there are [things like] digital pens," she says.
"Technology today allows you to do so much, it's not either or but sometimes you can have the best of both worlds."
It's also worth noting that the study was sponsored by Microsoft, which makes digital pens and screens, so the tech firm should be fairly pleased with the results, if anything.
Topics Microsoft
Yvette is a Viral Content Reporter at Mashable Asia. She was previously reporting for BBC's Singapore bureau and Channel NewsAsia.
