Why Take Digital Notes? 5 Popular Reasons

Taking digital notes comes with great benefits. You can’t lose them, they make you a better student, you get to access all the note taking apps for the iPad, you can organize them more efficiently, and you are saving the planet.

In this blog we will dive deeper into these reasons for digital note-taking, and at the end I will explain to you how you can get your parents to co-invest in buying you an iPad for school (you can use the same argument to convince a girlfriend or a boyfriend). 

Totally worth the read. Let’s get into it!

1. You Cannot Lose Them

I have always been skeptical of the whole “my dog ate my homework phenomenon.” Did the dog really eat everything? Did he even eat anything? It’s more likely that a dog tears up pieces of paper. I think that people just didn’t do their homework… 

But the reason why the excuse works is because it is possible. You can lose notes that are on paper due to a lot of reasons. The dog ate them; a tornado blew them away; your uncle used them to start a fire; a tidal wave swept them away; your brother buried them in the backyard and won’t tell you where. 

If you only have one copy of your notes, it’s easy to lose them. However, when you take digital notes, not only would you have to lose the entire iPad, you would also have to lose access to the cloud-storage of your digital note taking app. Even if you lose the iPad, you could buy a new one and find all your notes waiting for you in the cloud.

If you take digital notes it is almost impossible to lose them.

2. Handwritten Notes Make You A Better Student

In order to write with your hand, the only necessary thing is your hand. Not paper and ink. You can switch those out for digital paper, and an Apple Pencil, and still reap the benefits of taking handwritten notes. 

People who take handwritten notes usually outperform those who type notes. The reason for this is that typing usually turns into an effort to copy the exact words a teacher says. However, when taking notes on (digital) paper, you are forced to think about what you are hearing, and to reframe it in your own words. This creates a better understanding of what you are hearing, which is beneficial for your grades.

Anyone can transcribe, but not everyone can understand. 

If you would like to have a better writing experience on the iPad, check out our PenTips, and our grips. They might improve your writing-experience on the iPad.

3. Easy To Organize

We have all watched those YouTube videos of people explaining how to take digital notes. They take any note taking app for the iPad and transform it into art. It’s rather incredible. A powerful reason why they - and you too, my friend! - can do this is because digital paper allows for easier editing. 

For example, the eraser doesn’t leave any marks. You can drag and drop what you’ve just written. You can adjust the size of your writing. All these things are impossible with paper and ink. But digital paper and digital ink open up a world of editing that allows you to make your notes incredibly uncluttered.

Moreover, digital note taking apps allow you to create a file system in which you can organize all your notes. You will not run into the problem of forgetting a notebook for a certain class, then taking the notes on a piece of paper you borrowed, and then losing that piece of paper. It’s all on your iPad. Even in the unfortunate event that you forget your iPad, you could still take notes on that same borrowed paper, take a picture of them, and add them to the correct digital notebook.

Taking digital notes on the iPad allows you to both organize your individual notes better, as well as your whole library of notes.

4. Access To Digital Note-Taking Apps

When you use paper, you are limited to a pen, and lines or squares to write on or in. Sure, you could take a great amount of pens and types of notebooks to class, but that’s difficult and heavy. However, when you take digital notes, you will find a lot of (free) note taking apps for the iPad. These apps allow you to work with various templates and writing gear. And you only have to take an iPad and an Apple Pencil to class. 

You can read some blogs, and watch some videos and then decide what the best note taking app will be for you.

5. Limitless Paper

Digital paper doesn’t run out. Trees do. You will never have to worry about whether you can finish the course in one notebook, or whether you have to use about two pages of a new notebook, which is the most frustrating thing ever. 

On top of that, you are saving trees. That’s great. Trees look better as trees than as notebooks. Never have I walked through a forest, hoping that the trees would transform into A4 or A5 sized booklets. I suspect you haven’t either.

Conclusion on Why You Should Take Digital Notes

Taking digital notes unlocks great benefits. You can never lose them, you can organize your notes better, and taking notes on an iPad will make you a better student. The last one is a great reason to ask your parents to help you buy an iPad. Never have parents been swayed more by the argument of “it will improve my grades.” You can even show them the actual scientific study!

If you are taking digital notes, please let us know which note taking app you are using. We would love to know your thoughts about them.

Keep creating! So will we.