[matt_j]

I mostly came to this conclusion in math classes at uni. Handwriting my notes was far superior (in terms of knowledge retained) to using my laptop. My recall was excellent. You could argue that writing math is hard in a text editor (due to the required symbols) but I think it was deeper than that. Writing on paper requires more mental focus than smashing keys, it takes longer and that feels good when you're digesting abstract concepts.

I don't write code on paper for (probably) obvious reasons, and I tend to write essays in a text editor although I also enjoy the act of writing on paper in that situation.