<p>Seems to be split pretty evenly...so which method do you think is "healthier," however you guys interpret that? Some people made good point that writing by hand helps memory recall and such, but I don't know whether this is scientifically backed.</p>
<p>It wouldn't help for me - I'd be too focused on the physical act of writing, because I'm such a slow writer. I wouldn't get a chance to really digest what was being said. I think it all depends on the individual.</p>
<p>If you take notes by laptop, you have to carry your laptop around all day. Not my piece of cake.</p>
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Seems to be split pretty evenly...so which method do you think is "healthier," however you guys interpret that? Some people made good point that writing by hand helps memory recall and such, but I don't know whether this is scientifically backed.
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<p>Handwriting is probably "healthier" since it keeps your handwriting sharp (although how much does anyone handwrite anymore anyway) and you don't have to lug the laptop around. That's not as much of a problem for me since mine is really light, but I could see lugging a big one around being annoying.</p>
<p>I think the memory thing is because your brain has to process the information one more time if you're handwriting. If you're typing you can go straight from "Professor said it" to "type it." If you're writing you have to go "Professor said it" to "is it important to write down" to "write it" since it takes longer to write something than to type. Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses. It's a lot easier to organize your notes if you do them on a computer, as well as being easier to go back and change/add to your notes.</p>
<p>By hand! Who wants to hear the click all the time from a guy next to you whith a computer?</p>
<p>The program that records lectures is OneNote.</p>
<p>Unless it's changed a LOT in the last year OneNote is terrible for taking notes. What you write on the screen just jumps all over the place and it's annoying.</p>
<p>Easy- Oh no you didn't</p>
<p>Back to OP: From the comments alot of people are talking about noise.The keyboard on my laptop is quiet, well you can hear some typing but its really not enough to annoy anyone.
I do like to study using paper so I bought a great laser printer and a huge box of paper so after I typed all my notes I would just print it and place it in my binder.
However to be quite honest your not going to know which is best until after school starts. As the above method only worked in some of biology class.</p>
<p>The second method I had was that alot of profs like to put up either pdfs or powerpoints of their notes before class. So I would print it out either that morning or the night before and just write on that. Problem with that is that sometimes there is not alot of space to write my notes on. </p>
<p>The last method is the one I hate the most but had to do it thanks to organic chemistry. Write my notes the old fashion way in notebook. Problem is that my prof talked so fast and I write slow however only choice as there were to many things that needed to be drawn. Benefits: Saved my back!!!</p>
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The second method I had was that alot of profs like to put up either pdfs or powerpoints of their notes before class. So I would print it out either that morning or the night before and just write on that. Problem with that is that sometimes there is not alot of space to write my notes on.
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What I always do when teachers use that method is I look over the slides and see which ones have a problem that should be worked out and then I put an empty slide there to write on (I print 4 slides to a page). I also get a little OCD about it sometimes and work the problem out on notebook paper and label it with the slide number and then I go home and re-print the page with enough room to write. It might be easier to do if you just print 2 slides to a page, but I found out how to do that when it was too late!</p>
<p>If your teacher follows the text(s) closely take hand-written notes before class then write down the extra info during class. After class type the notes.</p>
<p>This way you copy the material twice and hear it being presented.</p>
<p>That's what I do...yep...</p>
<p>Seven or eight years ago I was in conversation with a Duke law student and a Case law professor and they each said that is was almost universal at their schools that students used laptops for in-class notes. From my engineering colleagues I know that the opposite is true in most engineering programs.</p>
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If your teacher follows the text(s) closely take hand-written notes before class then write down the extra info during class. After class type the notes.</p>
<p>This way you copy the material twice and hear it being presented.</p>
<p>That's what I do...yep...
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That's actually some pretty good advice. Though, it also depends on the individual's learning style (quite frankly, writing things down causes me not to be able to memorize material as well as I could just by listening...though, that is assuming that I'm actually interested to an extent about what is being taught....the complete opposite is true for many others though, everyone is different. :))</p>
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Seven or eight years ago I was in conversation with a Duke law student and a Case law professor and they each said that is was almost universal at their schools that students used laptops for in-class notes. From my engineering colleagues I know that the opposite is true in most engineering programs.
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That isn't horribly surprising. I have been hearing that blackberries are encouraged for buissness majors, and as a person in law, I imagine you won't be taking notes or having research printed out on paper (too much of a mess, doesn't allow you to collaborate, not as easy to consolidate a bunch of information into a small package and have backups of everything).</p>
<p>An enginner, for any field, is probably going to grab a pen and paper to jot some things down and for keeping track of a bunch of little things or for dealing with less-organized thought, pen and paper probably is better. Every game that I have written started with a bunch of notes on paper (though, that may change soon as I can write my diagrams on the computer fairly easy when I get my special mouse).</p>
<p>that is good advice message deleted.......
it depends on the person but i prefer taking notes by hand.</p>
<p>What if you use a tablet PC, and take notes by hand on the computer with the computer pen? Our teachers did this in high school, and it seemed to work well, except when the pen broke at times. Do people do this?</p>
<p>If you do that, be sure to get a really high quality screen/sensor. One of my friends got a mediocre one, and it's next to worthless because it isn't sensitive enough to actually make out comprehensible handwriting on it.</p>
<p>its hard to draw large organic rings and reactions on a laptop... its prolly better unless you are engineering, math or any science.</p>
<p>I write them in class, record the lecture, and type them when I get home....</p>
<p>Then upload them onto my ipod and take them everywhere....</p>
<p>haha, I know, I make things waay to complicated, but for me it works!</p>
<p>Johnson181, what kind of school do go to where fifth graders carry around laptops?</p>
<p>Hmm here's how I see it for myself. Since I was in the seventh grade, haven't been able to keep a day planner to save my life. I believe the longest I went was a week with a perfect day planner before I went back to committing assignments to memory. </p>
<p>That is, until halfway they senior year when I got my iPod touch. With its calendar and notes capabilities, keeping organized and on task was suddenly FUN! I haven't had much experience with taking notes on laptop since I haven't owned one until now. I'm taking dev psych this summer before I begin in august so I'll use that as a bit of a test run (for the record, I am a bio premed major, so I am thinking about investing in a tablet pc)</p>
<p>So would you guys recommend that freshmen take their laptop to the first meetings of their classes, along with paper and a pen, until they figure out what would work better? Or should we just bring some paper to jot down the preliminary stuff they'll be telling us.</p>