Difference between <input type="x" ... /> and <x ... />

I’m looking everywhere for a solution, but I’m not really getting anywhere… :frowning:

What is the difference between using (for instance):

<input type="textArea" />
AND
<textArea />

I’m mainly using these inside of forms. Do both work inside of forms, or is the second option not “form-friendly” seeing as how most tutorials use input tags for form input?