I've always taken handwritten notes in class. It forces you to condense the information being presented quite a bit. I've found that I use arrows, side boxes,

I've always taken handwritten notes in class. It forces you to condense the information being presented quite a bit. I've found that I use arrows, side boxes, lists, and all sorts of visual tricks along with writing to try to grasp the concept. It's only my personal experience but it's always seemed to be more effective than trying to fuss with a laptop.