this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2025
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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

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[–] Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

We must stop using devices that use Abominable Intelligence.

They will be our doom

[–] Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I haven't been to school for a couple decades. Do they no longer teach how to take proper notes in your first year (paper or computer or otherwise)?

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[–] Integrate777@discuss.online 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

Let me guess. They don't use a laptop, but brag about it endlessly on tiktok with a holier-than-thou attitude? It's just content farming then.

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[–] HailSeitan@lemmy.world 151 points 1 week ago (12 children)

That’s not what being a Luddite means

[–] ronigami@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago

Got a better word?

[–] mienshao@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

What a pedantic (and incorrect) take. Luddite can absolutely mean a person who purposefully avoids technology.

I’m sure I’ll get downvoted, but words can have multiple meanings and take on new meanings over time. Luddite is one of them. This article used it properly.

And anyone who disagrees with me can kiss my linguistics-degree-holding ass.

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[–] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 107 points 1 week ago (20 children)

Title is misleading:

Nick, a philosophy student at the University of Cambridge, stopped using his laptop for university work in the last year of his undergraduate degree. He still types his essays, but lecture notes, revision, and essay planning are all done by hand.

The second sentence contradicts the first:

stopped using his laptop for university work

then

He still types his essays

So basically he's not taking a laptop in to the lecture hall to take notes etc but is still using a computer to complete his work. Which makes sense as pen & paper in that environment is way more practical anyway.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I used to take my laptop into the lecture hall but I hardly ever actually used it.

Same. I mostly used it for homework between classes.

I found the most effective strategy for me was to do the reading before class, bring the book in to refer to, listen intently for things I didn't get from the book, and reread the section after class. If the professor specifically called out something to take notes on, I'd either do that on my phone or pull out my laptop (esp just before midterms or finals).

My handwriting is awful and I almost never refer to my notes anyway.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Exactly how does he research his essays without internet access?

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[–] Akuchimoya@startrek.website 43 points 1 week ago (2 children)

All assignments are submitted electronically now, and if he's in philosophy, he will also have to follow formatting requirements like font, font size, margins, and spacing. Practically, he's doing as much as he is allowed off-computer.

[–] scathliath@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago

Honestly I used to do the same a decade ago in engineering before changing majors mainly cause my laptop was a fucking brick.

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[–] undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 58 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

I absolutely love doing everything on the computer and can’t stand writing things by hand anymore. I’ve always learned 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 listening and learning.

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.

[–] Lfrith@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

I love digital because it is so easy to go back and reference old notes too. I use obsidian, and being able to go back and recall something I need a more detailed refresher on is so convenient.

My handwritten stuff got trashed because I'm not digging through all that and was just taking up space.

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[–] ratten@lemmings.world 48 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Laptops are extremely useful. It really doesn't make sense to avoid them.

I pretty much treat mine as my second brain.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 0 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I pretty much treat mine as my second brain.

Withering away your first brain in the process.

[–] ratten@lemmings.world 0 points 4 days ago

Not really.

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[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 week ago

Good for these kids. It's a wise move!

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)

i much prefered writing notes on paper but i'd cry if i had to write an essay by hand, i hope those students aren't torturing themselves this way

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 0 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Every English class at my uni has huge, like 10-page essays (can you even call them essays at this point?) where we cover scientific developments in our field we discovered in that month.

Everything is handwritten because "there were students who used LLMs, and they need to be sure at least some effort is put into admission". Like, just to spite on LLM users and all of us just in case.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

o.o holy shit- i mean that's a valid move, using AI for a handwritten piece sounds like a pain in the ass, but so does just writing 10 pages by hand, AI or not!

i'm glad i got through my higher education marginally before the AI boom hit (i graduated 3 years ago). i only had Turnitin yell "PLAGIARISM???" at me when i used a common phrase that another student used at some point somewhere (think - "The research suggests...", or sometimes even the page numbers), good times good times

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 1 points 6 days ago (2 children)

LLM boom has certainly affected education - complicating things for honest students and at the same time empowering cheaters.

Having studied both pre- and post-boom, I can say the amount of times I was offered to use LLMs overall and ChatGPT/Gemini specifically to generate answers as a student has gone through the roof.

And as a soon-to-be educator (I currently pursue PhD and aspire to teach others), I collect ideas on how to combat it, as it tanks the quality of education so much it may as well be nonexistent. But in any case, students that genuinely complete their assignments should not be harshly affected.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

my best idea would be going old school with in person written & oral testing, since clearly nothing digital is of any help anymore. or perhaps require multiple digital WIP versions to be submitted? would also be getting the students into a good habit of making backups of their work. or maybe every essay should come with a director's commentary (a more loose style reflective essay on the research and work done)

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 0 points 5 days ago (1 children)

These are all good options! In person testing is certainly on my list, and I like the ideas with WIP versions (especially for larger submissions) and commentary.

I also think of more presentation format submissions where I could ask quick questions to see if the person actually understands what is written. Sort of a small defense.

On technical means, I welcome different forms of AI poisoning in tasks: these don't always work, but they can catch the least attentive.

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