My handwritten notes looks terrible and I almost never used them. But I am sure the act of taking them did help me study. My problem with my DS is he doesn't see why he should have to take notes at ALL. The material is in the book, and he believes he remembers it all after one sitting. But in looking though one of his notebooks yesterday to look for a writing sample, I did notice that he does take notes he just doesn't think he should HAVE to.

Another question about the study. Many college professors now provide their "notes" online making taking notes at ALL unnecessary. And I have heard of teachers/professors who would prefer that students put down all pencils, electronics and just pay attention in class. Did this study address this issue?

Something similar, yesterday I was linked to this about the benefits of doodling.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2014/04/the_case_for_drawing_doodling_in_class.html

But what about the issue that many kids who are "taking notes on their computer" are actually chatting with friends, looking over tumblr/facebook. Or just web browsing.