<p>I'm going to be starting in the fall but I'm wondering how prevalent is laptop usage in the classroom @ UT. I know lots of people can type notes faster than they can write them, but do students actually take their computers to class every day?</p>
<p>I am an engineering student, but I’ve taken a few business/liberal arts type classes, and most of the people who “take notes” on their laptops are really just goofing around and distracting other people. So yes, maybe up to 1/3 of the class will have a laptop with them, but the serious students are usually taking notes by hand.</p>
<p>Yeah, probably 5-10% of students in a classroom will be on a laptop and 50% of them will be on Facebook or surfing the web at any one second. However, you shouldn’t have to wait more than about 30 seconds before the other 50% have their turn at it. The truth is that no matter how studious you may be, the temptation to lose focus on a laptop is too great. Many professors have banned electronics in the classroom due to this abuse and I believe that they were right to do so.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong- some use it properly, but I still don’t feel like any real advantage is gained by being on the computer, at least in my science classes (the tables may be completely turned in other subjects.).</p>
<p>But to answer you question directly: Yes, it’s very common.</p>
<p>Totally makes sense that folks would be on FB half the time! Considering I might be one of those people if given the chance, I think I’ll stick to the pen and paper~ Thanks a lot ya’ll!</p>
<p>They’re good in liberal arts type classes where professors say lots of relevant things really quickly. I have a government class right now where the professor covers tons of material every day, and before I brought my computer to take notes, I wasn’t getting half of it. You just have to control your impulse not to get on Facebook every 30 seconds. There’s a cool app called “Think” for Mac where you can black out everything else on your screen besides your Word document or whatever you’re using to take notes. </p>
<p>I’ve never taken my computer to non-liberal arts lectures though. I think it would just be unnecessary/too distracting. And some professors, especially in smaller classes, don’t allow them at all.</p>
<p>^ Yes, a lot of professors don’t allow laptops, or have limitations on them.</p>
<p>are there some professors where they talk too quickly to be able to write down notes with just a pen and paper? Kind of worried about this</p>
<p>It is possible, but likely your note-taking ability will adapt so that you record pertinent information in a concise manner. There will probably be a bit of a learning curve at first but you’ll catch on.
In addition, some profs provide resources which include lecture notes/slides posted online. Those are really great in that they allow you to sort of sit and absorb lecture and then use the materials provided to solidify/review afterwards. Students will also make use of things like FaceBook to created groups for classes in order to share information.
I really wouldn’t worry about getting necessary information - maybe comprehending it (completed different matter) - but unless you get a professor who is unintelligible, things shouldn’t be too bad.
However, it is just a fact of some courses that you’ll need to do some digging outside the scope of lecture/lab/notes in order to do well.
As for laptop usage in class, if they’re allowed, it is really a matter of personal preference and is never an irregularity. Often times though I see kids bringing laptops to class typing up everything that is said verbatim - which kind of defeats the purpose of taking notes, i think - but, to each his own.</p>
<p>Yes, mnaacd brings up a good point – in an art history class I had to take, I saw a lot of kids writing down absolutely everything the professor said. They had way too much information to study! I don’t know how well they did on the exams, but I hardly wrote down anything, and I got 99% in the class, haha.</p>
<p>thank you mnaacd, that was really helpful. :-)</p>
<p>Depend on which classes. I took notes on laptop for History and Politic classes, It’s much faster, and for some classes that the professor provide power points, you can just take note right in there.
For Calculus or Science classes, I use regular notebook.</p>