<p>I have a two computers that I'm deciding to bring with me to school next month. I've figured that taking notes on my netbook would be better because it's light and won't be a distraction for other students in the classroom since it's so small. </p>
<p>A while back, I took a computer to school with me to take notes in a history class. Surprisingly, I didn't get distracted at all. I usually turned of wifi, and used word/pages to record lectures and take notes at the same time. I also want to point out that I was VERY interested in the class that I was in, that's probably why I wasn't as distracted. I'm a little afraid that if I have a class that's extremely boring, I'll end up browsing the web or going on Facebook.</p>
<p>Do you guys think that this is a good idea again? Or should I just stick to a notebook and pen/pencil and bring the netbook around when I'm going to the library or studying outside of my dorm? Or should I take notes during class? I also want to add that I'm a slow writer unfortunately, but I type a lot faster.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I stick with the looseleaf/pencil method. I find that I more easily recall something if I write it out as opposed to type. If a professor creates and follows a powerpoint presentation in class, I print it out, punch holes, and write supplemental notes on them.</p>
<p>I also find it much quicker to write as opposed to type equations and such (a majority of my notetaking is in a Math or Science class).</p>
<p>I personally haven’t tried the Word/Pages/OneNote method, but like you said, I feel I would get distracted easily if the topic isn’t interesting or if something is going on that I want to track (sports primarily).</p>
<p>If you are a faster typer than writer, by all means, I just find it easier to recall facts when I write them down.</p>
<p>Pen and paper. I find it faster, more efficient, and better to use when I need to study.</p>
<p>I’ve actually read a number of studies that have demonstrated that you absorb material much more efficiently when you actually WRITE it down, versus taking notes on a computer. The act of writing “cements” it in more completely.</p>
<p>Personally, I’ve always stuck with the paper and pen/pencil method for note taking. I would find it too distracting to take notes with a computer. Most of my classes are math and science classes though, and it is quite a bit harder to take math and science notes on a computer, because you can’t jot down formulas and sketch figures as easily as you can on paper.</p>
<p>Realistically though, I don’t find myself taking that many notes in most classes. I find that I absorb the material much more completely when I read the chapter or section the night before, and then focus completely on the lecture the next day, without really taking down many notes. I’ll jot down the crucial things, but I’m not that person trying to write down every single thing that goes on the board/powerpoint.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I’ll follow your advice and just write in my notebooks instead of type my notes in word/pages. One more question. Do you guys think that it’s going to be better for me to record the lectures and go back after class to listen to them while I’m studying? How would I be able to do that if the Professor doesn’t allow tape recorders in class? I often have a hard time following lectures while I’m trying to write down everything in class.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Most professors shouldn’t have a problem with recorders. If they do just sneak one in and as long as it’s not a small class and you’re not making it obvious that you have one (you can try putting it under your shirt or on top of your backpack, for example) no one will notice. Also there’s an audio record feature in onenote so if you have a microphone in your laptop (which you should if it has a webcam) you can do this as well (though the quality won’t be good. If you want to do this it’s probably better to buy a separate microphone and attach it to your laptop).</p>
<p>Edit:
Oh, and I type my notes whenever possible (except for math and science classes because of all the symbols and Greek letters) or I just record the lecture and take notes later. I find it futile to try to learn during a lecture - I’d rather have more detailed notes (which I can achieve by typing because my typing speed is much faster than my handwriting speed) that I can read over more carefully afterwards or a copy of the lecture that I can pause and slow down to suit my taste.</p>
<p>Please do note that some professors are really not cool with recordings (for intellectual property issues, privacy issues w/r/t other student contributions in class, etc.). If a professor cares enough to issue an explicit ban, I’d respect it. At my institution, violating that type of request (without having appropriate accommodation on file) could land you in front of the Honor Council. </p>
<p>–</p>
<p>smurray, do you really try to “write everything down” in a lecture? That’s generally an approach that most professors try to discourage because students who do write down everything often have difficulty remembering/selecting the most essential information and this can lead to problems when it comes to figuring out what to study for exams, remembering important interpretive points for discussion, etc. </p>
<p>Most of the professors I know agree that you should use your notes to highlight key claims that are usually signaled either by being written on the board/included in a PPT (the person who suggested printing out slides is on the right track) or being repeated multiple times in lecture (heck, for the really important things, I tell my students point-blank, “write this down”). </p>
<p>Most people who try to get everything down aren’t giving themselves the breathing room to bat around ideas and try to make connections across readings, etc. However, it’s that playing around with ideas and connections that leads to the types of observations that let a student do well in discussion (if there’s any) and write engaging papers (if it’s that type of class). Most of my best students in seminar have notes that do not look at all like the stereotype of what good notes ought to be.</p>
<p>^
I guess it depends on the class. However, I’ve had a couple of classes where the professor thinks <em>everything</em> is important (as in, if you do not come into the exam with hundreds of powerpoint slides memorized down to the last word, you will get an average or below average grade - particularly in biology classes where premeds try to out-memorize each other to get As). This probably isn’t as important in the humanities.</p>
<p>For me, it varied by class how I took notes. French class? Pen and paper. Mythology, typing.</p>
<p>I prefer typing my notes because I can type faster than I write, so I am able to get more written down. The problem is, studying from the computer screen can be difficult and distraction prone. Turning off the wi-fi in class does help sometimes…but not always.</p>
<p>Some teachers have a policy against computers/iPads in their classrooms due to internet usage. Be sure to ask what the policy is before dragging something in there.</p>
<p>Sometimes taking notes the old fashioned way can be difficult on those little tables meant for kindergartners.</p>
<p>It depends. I type faster than I can write, so I use my laptop whenever I can. For certain classes, like math and science classes, I use pen and paper. If your professors don’t podcast (I know at UC Davis, a majority of the professors podcast their lectures, which is extremely convenient), ask them if you can record their lectures. If they don’t, see if your school has a service where people can sell their notes (for example, UC Davis has something called Classical Notes–someone is hired to take notes for a particular class, they hand over the notes (which they have to convert to typed format) to the Classical Notes staff, who then sell the notes to students), or make friends with someone else in the class so that you can compare notes and see what you’ve missed, or visit your professor’s office hours to ask about any gaps in your notes. </p>
<p>@ SLACFac: I’ve had professors who say everything they’ve ever taught prior to a test is “fair game” and even ask questions about something they’ve only mentioned once in lecture. For example, in my prior Physiology class, there was a question pertaining to something the professor said in only one lecture, and if you didn’t remember exactly what he said or weren’t there for that lecture, well, that’s a point lost (and on a 20 point quiz, one point can really make a difference between an A and a B or a B and a C).</p>
<p>As SLACFac noted, some professors have strict policies against recording. Unless you have a demonstrable disability that necessitates your recording the lecture, many professors won’t allow it. As mentioned, it comes down to intellectual property issues. How would YOU feel if someone was recording you without your knowledge? If professors don’t allow recording, don’t try to sneak a recorder in. If you get caught, it can create serious issues. Some professors will take their intellectual property rights very seriously.</p>
<p>As others have noted “trying to write it ALL down” is a bad practice. When you’re scrambling, trying to get every last word jotted down, you aren’t really paying close attention, and actually comprehending the material. I only really jot down important points. A lot of the information on a power point slide, for instance, will be basically the same material that’s in the textbook. Frequently, the power points actually come with the teachers editions of the textbook, in which case ALL of the material should be in it. It’s more crucial to write down the points the professor is emphasizing, and repeating. When they transition from one point to the next, you want to jot down the main point…but you don’t need to try to copy every single word they speak. </p>
<p>I’m in a GenEd speech class right now over summer sessions, and one of my friends is taking it with me. Every time we get to a new power point slide, she’s trying to jot down every single word on it. Me? I’ve taken maybe two pages of notes the entire class, and I think I have a far better grasp on the material than she does…because I’ve actually paid attention to the lectures, rather than hurriedly trying to jot down every last word.</p>
<p>I haven’t used a notebook for years. I used one occasionally for my classes as a freshman, but in my later years, I switched pretty much entirely over to electronic notes. If it’s a class that I can type notes easily in (like history, psychology, etc), I would type my notes on my laptop (and when I got an iPad + keyboard, I started using that to take all my notes). For classes where it was easier to hand write the notes or where the professor handed out slides, I used my iPad for notes and I wrote directly onto the slides.</p>
<p>You’ll figure out a system that works best for you in college. In general, I recommend that if you’re comfortable typing notes to use your computer for humanities or some social science classes. Handwriting seems to work best for math, physics, chemistry, or classes with a lot of symbols and drawings. I used my tablet but pen and paper works just as well. If you’re professor posts the slides ahead of time, it’s easiest to print them out and write directly on them.</p>
<p>Also note that some professors don’t allow computers in their classroom (relatively rare in my experience, but not unheard of) and some don’t allow students to record their lectures or take pictures of their slides. I would respect their wishes and refrain from recording the lecture because they have a right not to be recorded if they don’t want to be (for whatever reason). Your school may have a note-taking service that you can either pay for or is provided free for students with disabilities. Your school may also provide recordings of the lectures if the professor agrees to it, and then you may not have to record them yourself.</p>
<p>I know in one of my classes a professor has the slides out already. They’re 4 years old but I highly doubt anything has changed, lol. I saw another syllabus from that class and it was entirely the same. So from 2007-2009 nothing changed in the syllabus. I guess I should also note that all he has a no cellphones (calling/emailing/texting) policy. I kind of already knew that was going to be in there, majority of professors HATE cellphones in class. I’m going to ask him how he feels about recording lectures on the 1st day of school.</p>
<p>In the syllabus it doesn’t state anything about laptops, I’ve found out that usually if a professor hates something in class they’ll put it in the syllabus beforehand. By the way I should note that majority of my classes (at least the f2f ones) are all sociology related except for a government and anthropology class.</p>
<p>@baktrax I actually found out that some professors DO post their lectures on YouTube, but it’s a small amount and unfortunately none of my professors do this semester.</p>
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<p>I don’t believe I said that professors DON’T post their lectures on Youtube. I’ve actually never had a professor that said it was not okay to record a lecture, but it’s not unheard of, which is why I mentioned it. I have had one professor who didn’t post his lecture slides online and did not allow students to take pictures of the slides during class. I have had many more professors who audio and/or video podcasted their lecture, but it was always based on the professor’s preference.</p>
<p>I know you didn’t say anything about youtube. I was just stating what I saw. Sorry for the confusion man.</p>
<p>I find it incredible that some people are surprised by professors having a no cellphones policy. It’s just completely disrespectful to have your phone out texting during a lecture. What does anyone need to have a phone out for during class?</p>
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<p>There have been occasions when I’ve gotten calls about grad school or job interviews or acceptances during class, and I needed to take the call. I always step outside to take the call, but that could be one reason to be preoccupied with a phone during class (especially if you’re expecting an important phone call).</p>
<p>There have been other times when I’ve had to answer (time-sensitive) questions from my lab via text. Sometimes I’ll also jot a due date or something similar in my calendar on my phone or send a reminder to myself to do something for the course, and both of these I like to do as soon as the professor mentions it. I could write it down on my notes, but to be honest, having a system makes it so that things don’t get lost in the shuffle and it helps when I have a lot of things to keep track of.</p>
<p>I’m sure many of the students on their phones aren’t doing anything that couldn’t be done easily outside of class, but sometimes, there are situations where I really need to take a call or communicate with something. Life doesn’t stop as soon as I enter the classroom, and I try to be understanding of other students whose entire life I may not be aware of.</p>
<p>I like to handwrite my notes, then retype them onto my laptop once I get back to my room (assuming it’s not a class with lots of numbers, symbols, or diagrams). It allows me to go over my notes a few hours later, trim down unnecessary stuff that I may have written down, and have my notes in more than one place.</p>
<p>As far as recordings go, I’ve only had one professor that was completely against them. As others have said, always ask first.</p>
<p>I used my iPad my senior year. Loved it.</p>