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Laptop or paper?

so i’m in a dilemma, grade dependant i will either be studying btec national extended diploma health and social care, or psychology, business, and biology alevels. i start college in about a month but should i get a laptop? i already have an ipad however i found it difficult to focus on it during gcses because i would also use it for netflix etc

Reply 1

Fish1735

I got a computer at the beginning of my a levels and it was extremely helpful. I made most of my revision notes on my computer so I’d definitely recommend that because writing everything down will get overwhelming.

Reply 2

Coventry University Student Ambassadors

Official Rep

Original post

by izzyx07

Hi!

When I was doing my A-Levels I studied 2 of the three you mentioned (Psychology and Biology). What I did is that I wrote down notes on paper and filed them in binders, (this did mean a lot of notebooks were used) this could be another option, but I knew people who used I-pads/Laptops as well and this made it easy for them to have everything organised and easier! Whichever you think will be best for notes/organisation.

Hope this helps!

Kind Regards,

-Wanita

Reply 3

A.bagel123

I got a laptop at the start of A Levels but I have found that I do most my work on paper. While I use my laptop at times I know that there is nothing that I could not do on paper. I make a lot of my revision notes outside of lessons on it - but I would not be hindered if I was writing them as sometimes I do. I myself wish that I had all my things in one place and I don’t think I would use my laptop at all. However, this is my personal experience and I know a lot of people that work on a mix of ipads and laptops and would not dream of using paper.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Studies have shown that writing notes on paper leads to improved recall vs typing.

Reply 5

daisily

It definitely depends on how you work and which works better for you, however the rest of my class uses laptops so I ended up doing that too so I wasn’t left behind. It gave me more time to make summary mind maps & do extra revision on paper after making notes, as typing was much faster for me! Good luck with with college!