Most modern-day college classrooms are a sea of laptops. The sounds of pens and pencils scurrying across lined paper have long been replaced by the tapping of keyboards.

Sure, typing notes is a lot easier than the old-fashioned method, but scientists can’t help but wonder: what are we sacrificing in exchange for this kind of convenience? Are students learning like they should be?

Apparently not.

According to the results of one study published in Psychological Sciencethis link opens in a new tab, the fact that you have to be slower when you take notes by hand is what makes it more useful in the long run.

“Our new findings suggest that even when laptops are used as intended—and not for buying things on Amazon during class—they may still be harming academic performance,” lead author Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University explained in a news release.

Her research, which was conducted...