<p>is it smarter to take my laptop to class or write my notes by hand? i have really messy handwriting but knowing me, facebook/perez hilton/stumble upon would distract me (although i don't think my campus is wireless everywhere)</p>
<p>what do you think is a smarter idea?</p>
<p>this is off topic but i read your username as “jesus trains it” </p>
<p>but back to topic, i would guess it depends on the class. classes requiring a lot of formulas like math and science classes should probably be handwritten.
other classes you can probably use a laptop</p>
<p>I agree. Math or Science classes would be better by writing in a notebook. Even classes like Accounting. However, classes like History or English would be fine with a laptop.</p>
<p>I just use regular ol pencil and paper. Its just kinda a pain to haul around a laptop (unless you have a super light weight laptop). Id also recommend this if you think may get distracted.</p>
<p>I find it less distracting to use pen and paper. I also retain information better when I’m handwriting. A teacher explained it pretty well today actually: when you’re writing by hand you have to quickly process the information and figure out what’s worth writing and what’s just gonna suck up time. Since most people our age are fast typists, we can just type down what the professor says verbatim and it doesn’t really stick in our heads.</p>
<p>I use paper b/c its less distracting! I always feel bad carrying a laptop, b/c its heavy and I feel parnoid about the battery going dead in the middle of class, plus you don’t wanna dmg, your comp so you gotta be super carful everywhere you go and never let it out of your site!</p>
<p>When my daughter took an art history course (she’s a math major), she found it really useful to take notes with her laptop. The classroom was wifi, so she could download paintings her professor was referencing. She was the only none art history major in class, it was very helpful for her to be able to access the internet and typed while her professor lectured. In her math and econ classes, it was easier for her to take notes the old fashion way.</p>
<p>A laptop may work in some situations but good luck using one in a math/science lecture.</p>
<p>Laptop. My hand writing would never keep up. Printing notes is very nice.</p>
<p>I do go old school if I can print out slides before class.</p>
<p>Laptop with Google Docs, if the instructor allows computers, unless it’s a math/science/econ or other graph intensive course. I can’t read my handwriting and I tend to lose my notes ><. </p>
<p>I LOVE to surf the internet during class to conduct on-the-fly research about a topic the professor is discussing (not facebooking). If you never tried it, give it a try, I feel it’s an extremely useful way to facilitate learning.</p>
<p>Not in college, so maybe my opinion isn’t as useful, but…
In one of my classes, everyone is assigned a laptop, so we all just take our notes on them as the teacher talks.</p>
<p>Personally, I find it’s a lot neater than when I’m trying to drag my pen across a notebook page fast enough to get all the information down, even though some organization might be more difficult. But I get around it.
As other people have said, it’s also good for looking up pictures and maps and such that might relate to the class.</p>
<p>My teacher likes it because we CAN allow ourselves to get distracted for a bit and go off on Facebook for a little while and still remain somewhat attentive, because when most students get bored, they’ll just blank out and totally stop listening. At least distractions will keep us awake with the chance we’ll hear what’s going on in the background.
Funny how that works out.
I’ve avoided randomly going on Facebook so far, though.</p>
<p>If you need to draw diagrams or graphs, then paper and pencil/pen is really your best option. If it’s like history or something, you <em>can</em> use a laptop well, but I still prefer pen and paper. It makes me think about what I’m writing, and I remember things better if I handwrote it.</p>
<p>I prefer pencil and paper. First, you never know when you’ll need to draw a diagram or something, even in history classes. Also, I know I would probably be incredibly tempted to go on the Internet instead of pay attention if I had my laptop. And finally, I think that many professors and TAs know that many of the kids with laptops are just surfing facebook or whatever, and if I used a laptop, they might suspect me of the same thing (even if I really was just taking notes). So I like to use pencil and paper so the professor and TAs know that I’m paying attention.</p>
<p>Old school pencil and paper for me. It’s kind of hard to take chemistry notes quickly and efficiently with a laptop. Half of my professors won’t even let us use laptops in class</p>
<p>Although if I ever had the chance to get a crappy tablet PC then I’d def use that to take notes.</p>
<p>It depends. In my history class typing is so much easier because my prof often goes back and forth when he lectures so then there are arrows all over the notepage if you write. In my soc class last semester, typing was also easier because my prof talked really fast, and I write really slowly. Go to class the first week with a notebook and take notes by hand. If it’s too much, start bringing your laptop.</p>
<p>“I LOVE to surf the internet during class to conduct on-the-fly research about a topic the professor is discussing (not facebooking).”</p>
<p>Me too! Plus being able to do that keeps me awake. I could not possibly stay awake if I didn’t have my laptop, it was in the shop for a few weeks last semester and I was screwed until I got it back. So I actually end up paying better attention and learning more than I would have if I were just sitting there trying to write notes.</p>
<p>In my college classes I took hand notes in class, and then to review I went gme and typed my notes</p>