<p>Hello!</p>
<p>What is the best methods to write efficient notes: laptop, tablet, digital pen, or notebook and pen?</p>
<p>It depends on you. Notebook and pen works for any class. If it’s a class that doesn’t rely on formulas or use non-English characters regularly, you can use a laptop/tablet/electronic of your choosing. If it’s something like a math or science class that uses formulas, definitely use pen(cil) and paper.</p>
<p>I personally like pen and paper for all my classes. My first quarter I typed notes for my linguistics and anthropology classes, but got sick of carrying the laptop around. Ever since then, I’ve used pen and paper, then retype notes on my computer once I get back from class (assuming it’s notes that can be easily typed). That’s worked well for me thus far.</p>
<p>Depends on class. For science classes, I found it easier to take notes using the good ol’ pen and paper method, as it takes much more time to type out mathematical symbols, chemical structures, etc. For humanities and social science classes, I found it easier to use a laptop, as I, like most people, type faster than I can write, so it made note-taking more efficient and greatly increased my ability to capture most of the main points without scrambling to scribble them all down. An added benefit of this was that my notes were a whole lot easier to read when I came back to them for the midterm and final.</p>
<p>It depends on your teachers, really. I’ve yet to be in a class where taking notes on a computer was even allowed! </p>
<p>Although, I did use my computer once to look up something for the class discussion (which was allowed). I may have been allowed to have taken notes with it during that class, but no one did.</p>
<p>It all depends on the class. Personally, I use a notebook and pen for all of my notes. I have primarily science/math classes though, and writing down formulas and equations, or reactions, diagrams etc is rather difficult on a laptop of tablet.</p>
<p>Some classes like english, history, etc are easy enough to do on a laptop/tablet.</p>
<p>There are plenty of classes though where professors won’t allow you to have electronics out. Most of my classes have had a policy that doesn’t allow you to have laptops, tablets, or phones out during class. I find that to be a reasonable policy, because there are plenty of people out there that feel like the middle of a lecture is a great time to check their facebook.</p>
<p>It definitely depends on the class and your personal style. Many people do prefer computers because typing is faster, and I’ve definitely considered it because my handwriting is horrible, but I personally prefer to write my notes by hand and then type them up because it gives me a chance to review everything as I type it up.</p>
<p>Has anyone used a digital notebook and pen? Are they worth the investment?</p>
<p>I have tried taking notes on my tablet, but find that I don’t like it very much. I have found the pen and paper method to be the best. I have a friend who invested in a pen that records sound and has the ability to sync the paper/pen notes you take to the sound and she seems to like that method. </p>
<p>I will, however, use the audionote app in those lectures where the professor talks a mile a minute along with paper and pen notes. That seems to work effectively for me.</p>
<p>more important than the tool, IMHO, is what you try to capture. You’re not trying to create a transcript, just capture high points that you will later fill in. Many students find it helpful to go over their notes to add more detail after the lecture. You can find discussions on how to take notes effectively in many books about college life or on the web. One approach to look into is called the “Cornell note taking system”.</p>
<p>^^^ That’s good advice. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to copy down every single word on the powerpoint, or every single word that the professor says, and as a result, they’re more focused on copying everything, and aren’t really effectively paying attention to the lecture. It’s more important, in my experience, to pay close attention to the lecture, and just copy down the main points. This is where previewing the material can help a lot. If you’re already semi-familiar with it, you’ll know what the crucial points are, and you’ll know what material the professor is adding in the lecture that isn’t contained in the reading. </p>
<p>In some classes, I find myself taking very few notes.</p>
<p>It depends on the class, like others said.</p>
<p>If the prof uses powerpoint slides available online, I like printing them out and just making a bunch of notes on the paper. If they don’t, I like taking notes on my laptop and transcribing them to paper later for studying (typing = faster, less chance of missing important material).</p>
<p>Regarding the Digital pen while I don’t use them for school, we do have them at work and I did take one to class one day. In the end I decided that I am not going to go back and listen to the lecture. I also decided my handwriting is horrible and the OCR does not work at all with it. I have decided that a tablet or laptop works best for me.</p>
<p>That being said some students who borrow are pens do like them and it that what works for you by all means get when. Best thing about them is that looks like a regular pen so a professor is less likely to notice it and not let you use it.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the pens who have at work</p>
<p>[Livescribe</a> :: 2013 Back to School Promotion](<a href=“Livescribe :: Never Miss A Word - Livescribe – Livescribe Inc. (US)”>Livescribe :: Never Miss A Word - Livescribe – Livescribe Inc. (US))</p>