Submitted 5 hours ago by faizalr@fedia.io to technology@lemmy.world
The vast majority of students rely on laptops – and increasingly AI – to help with their university work. But a small number are going analogue and eschewing tech almost entirely in a bid to re-engage their brains
i think its mostly AI that was the problem. we all used notebooks even last decade, you just cant concentrate with a laptop writing notes.
I absolutely love doing everything on the computer and can’t stand writing things by hand anymore. I’ve always heard simply by listening — instructors that force students to take notes were the worst because I would be too busy scrambling to write things down than actually listen and learn.
All of this goes out the window when it comes to foreign language though. I have to do everything old school: textbooks, pencil and paper, and if it’s a non-Latin character set I have to write the same characters over and over for hours.
For me I always wrote as i listened, still do often.
I rarely read the notes back.
'Revision' was just writing a whole new set of notes either from memory or from sources.
Then, never reading that set of notes.
Massive waste of paper and ink, but it's part of how i pay attention.
Most of my lecturers did provide printouts of all the slides, but I'd scribble all over them anyway.
Typing doesn't do the same thing at all for me.
I do that but its actually because I just don’t own a laptop and don’t want to buy one
Good for these kids. It’s a wise move!
As “someone who gets distracted very easily,” he made the change to reclaim his attention span. Ditching his laptop gave him an environment where “YouTube isn’t around the corner” and he can focus on his reading.
This is just avoiding the issue of having a short attention span.
Reminds me a lot of fellow classmates at my college who I discovered hate online classes because they say they can’t stay focused. So I don’t know how these “luddite” students plan to not get distracted when their job will most likely involve sitting in front of a computer.
I used to be easily distracted during online lectures yet had little difficulty following live lectures. It’s a fundamentally different experience, for whatever reason.
Attention span is cultivated, so is discipline. Reading about it is theory. Forcing oneself to do it, in increasingly sizable chunks, is praxis. I'm talking to myself here, too.
This is just avoiding the issue of having a short attention span.
And how do you improve your attention span? By not having distractions available to you.
Going to school with a book instead of a phone is way more enjoyable.
I really like this idea, but its difficult. when I used to attend uni it was more feasible but in 2025 all of my courses require online submissions, discussion, and materials. I can rent a laptop from the library, but only for 4 hours at a time. Of course there are desktops, but realistically if you want work from home you need a computer/tablet. That said I still just borrow my partners and haven’t bothered to buy one.
HailSeitan@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
That’s not what being a Luddite means
LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 minute ago
What does it mean then?