<p>It has been a long time since I was in college (i.e. we entered through a punch card system if that gives you an idea of how long). I am a gadget guy though and have tried many organization systems over the years. I am retired now but when I was working I used a very simple organization system called “Getting things Done” (GTD) by David Allen. Each time I tried to computerize the system whether on a smart phone or laptop it always seemed to fail and I just went back to my old pencil and paper system. </p>
<p>So now I am sending my D off to College. She actually uses the GTD system on paper but I am planning on sending her to college with a new laptop (a Mac for sure). I am just curious as to the following though.</p>
<p>1) How many students take notes directly on their laptops in class, skipping paper note taking altogether? </p>
<p>2) If so, is it difficult to study for a test off of a laptop? </p>
<p>3) What programs do students use for note taking? </p>
<p>4) Do you keep things in “cloud space” or on the hard drive?</p>
<p>5) Do you (or most students) use a paper calendar/todo organization system or do they rely on their laptops calendar and/or todo feature to stay organized?</p>
<p>6) What other software do students tend to find beneficial in college?</p>
<p>Just curious as I would like to set my D up with effective tools that don’t end up being a time waster as so many of my own ventures to bring organization to the technology platform have been.</p>
<p>I asked just asked my S about this, as he’s a very good note taker. He actually uses both depending on the class. Some lecture classes require standard writing so he’ll just take notes on the laptop, but some other classes, like economics involve a lot of graphing that is easier to take notes with pencil and paper. </p>
<p>I can get back to you on how effective he is at studying on a laptop, but I’d imagine that if he’s taking good notes on one, he has no problem studying off one as well.</p>
<p>Some of your other questions I’m not sure, but I’ll get back to you when I can!</p>
<p>A few thoughts were I have a slightly intelligent response:</p>
<p>4) Both. CYA at all costs. At some point you will not be able to get to that material either by system failure or computer location. Use an external HD with Time Machine to back up the MAC along with MobileMe or another cloud service.</p>
<p>5) The majority of kids I know use an online calendar that syncs with one on their smartphone. The iphone does this with ical via MobileMe. Android has similar features with google calendars (one of my kids prefers this).</p>
<p>6) Depending on your school, you will be able to buy software specially packaged at very low prices. Contact the tech dept to see if they offer something.</p>
<p>In my math, engineering, and physics courses EVERYONE takes notes on paper. Haven’t seen a single laptop in a math/engineering course. It’s too much of a hassle to write out math expressions or diagrams on a laptop, so everyone uses paper.</p>
<p>In a sociology class I took, almost everyone had laptops…although I’m not sure why anyone even needed to take notes because all the lecture slides were posted online.</p>
<p>I took notes directly on my computer for most of my college classes, unless the class was very very small or a language class (where I needed to be able to add accents or type in non-latin alphabets, so a computer would have slowed me down). I did this because I knew in advance that while I was a good notetaker, I was disorganized when it came to paper notes. I would use my notebooks for things besides school work, mix up which ones were for which subject, lose paper out of them, etc. until I just had a jumbled mess. On a computer, everything is in a neat, labeled file. When I switch classes, I just switch files. Nothing to lose, nothing to mix up, nothing to get wet or crumpled or have to sort through. </p>
<p>I found it easy to study using my computer notes because I could use CTRL + F to look up a particular term, date, or topic much more quickly than I would have from flipping through paper notes. Sometimes I would print off particular sections to take with me. I could also copy notes from a text document into an online or software based flashcard maker, to make quick and easy digital flashcards for practice. </p>
<p>I used a computerized calendar for the most part, though I had a regular monthly wall calendar in my room as well. The computer calendar just kept things neat and i could carry it with me on my phone or export it online so that I could check it from anywhere. </p>
<p>I used a software called OmniNote to take notes, but only because it came with my computer. Most of the students I knew just used Microsoft Word, rather than buy a dedicated notetaking software.</p>
<p>Taking notes on a laptop slows one down. You have to use P&P without a doubt. </p>
<p>I know my sons use the cell phones for calendars but the truth is they don’t use them effectively, without me reminding them of things they would clearly miss them, so I STRONGLY urge young people to go low tech and get a decent paper calendar that flips open. </p>
<p>We have computers and software for crunching numbers and composing papers. Use computers when needed use low tech for everything else. </p>
<p>We, that is to say I, back up on my home and work computer. That is a double safe back up. I then occasionally back it all up on an external hard-drive. That gives me three ways not to loss years and years of work and files, such as screen plays and pictures, that are virtually impossible to recreate if lost. </p>
<p>I probably need 1-2 more places to back-up in the event of a catastrophy such as a hurricane which could destroy my home and office.</p>
<p>check with the college - they may advocate certain applications for some majors. I know that my older daughter’s school did. And, she was able to get software there at incredible prices - much better than I could find anywhere.</p>
<p>She used to use GoogleDocs for file sharing, but prefers DropBox.</p>
<p>She also uses GoogleCalendar, but has an old-fashioned paper calendar on her wall just for easy visual reference.</p>
<p>Absolutely, positively use the “cloud” for storing files or at the very least back up your HD to the cloud. There are many free or low cost options for this. My D crashed TWO! computers her freshman year. </p>
<p>As for notes, consider a tool such as Livescribe, it is a good combination of low and high tech.</p>
<p>I think it depends a lot on the school, the department, and the type of classes. People use laptops here for LOTS of classes, but not so much for STEM classes and foreign languages. I use my laptop for everything except signing my name because my handwriting is awful. It is not difficult to study from, but a printer is essential because I do like to underline and scribble in the margins, I am a visual and tactile learner and need to hold the paper in my hands and be able to mark it up to really remember it. But that’s no great inconvenience.</p>
<p>I store on an external harddrive, and some googledocs stuff-- that technology is new to me. I also really like to use mozilla sunbird for my planner, I make up my calendar and I print out a copy to hang up, too. And that’s about the gist of it.</p>
<p>1) How many students take notes directly on their laptops in class, skipping paper note taking altogether? </p>
<p>Depends on the class. If it’s a lecture class (especially with slides) expect lots of laptops. If it’s math or science, expect a few laptops and lots more pencil and paper.</p>
<p>2) If so, is it difficult to study for a test off of a laptop? </p>
<p>Depends on the student. People study in different ways.</p>
<p>3) What programs do students use for note taking? </p>
<p>I’ve seen lots of OneNote, and whatever that mac os program is also. Plus plain old Word.</p>
<p>4) Do you keep things in “cloud space” or on the hard drive?</p>
<p>Both. Cloud space is very handy for transferring files between computers, or just simply accessing them from different computers (friends, computer lab, etc).</p>
<p>5) Do you (or most students) use a paper calendar/todo organization system or do they rely on their laptops calendar and/or todo feature to stay organized?</p>
<p>I use a paper calendar. Many people use electronic ones, but I like my paper one.</p>
<p>6) What other software do students tend to find beneficial in college?</p>
<p>Honestly, Word, Powerpoint, and whatever you need to do your assignments is all you need.</p>
<p>One of D’s profs did not allow laptop use in the classroom–I guess to prevent web surfing during lectures. (Because she has a learning disability, she was able to get the prohibition waived.)</p>
<p>I am a student so I’ll give you my perspective on note taking and organizing. I am a freshmen Television-Radio major at Ithaca College. I am currently taking 5 classes: Introduction to Field Production, Introduction to Business, Introduction to the Theatre, Basic Statistical Reasoning, and Media Writing. </p>
<p>I carry my laptop around with my at all times. I have a really nice North Face bookbag which has its own laptop sleeve. If just want my laptop and a notebook I grab my lighter bookbag and put my laptop into its own sleeve. I do have a cover on my Macbook Pro also. I do have a notebook for each and everyone of my classes but I barely use them. </p>
<p>In my lecture style classes (Business and Theatre) the professors usually teach off a Powerpoint which I find difficult but it is easy to get used to. The professors usually post the powerpoints on blackboard before class and I take notes off of them either within the actual slideshow or on another word document. Having the powerpoint open on my laptop is really helpful for me because I can easily go between the slides and add little reference notes.</p>
<p>In my Statistics class I use pen and paper. It is the one class where all of my notes are in the format because we draw graphs and diagrams and do calculations which I can’t do on my laptop. I think only one person in that class has their laptop open. </p>
<p>For the classes within my major I usually have my laptop open but I don’t always use it. My Field Production class has a lecture component too it where I take notes on my laptop and then we go into the lab portion where we are in a television studio and I just bring a notebook with me. I try to keep all my notes in one place because I know these will be the things I will want to look back on in the future. </p>
<p>If I want to study for a test I usually use my school’s free printing and print out study guides after typing them up and looking over them. Everyone has a different study technique and mine is to continually read over materials and rehearse them in my head. </p>
<p>To actually take notes I just open Microsoft Word and go to the Notebook Layout which formats perfectly for what I need. Some people just use blank word documents or do something on google docs.</p>
<p>On the calendar thing is the one issue I have struggled with as a freshmen. In the beginning of the year I used a paper planner but it sort of got forgotten since I didn’t carry it around with my everywhere. I use a lot of post it notes on my laptop screen which helps me organize different things. It really depends on the person and how they choose to organize their own material. But I definetly need to find a new way for next fall.</p>
<p>I am dedicated to pen and paper, but I agree with others than in many classes, especially large lectures, many students use laptops (and about half of those using laptops actually take notes). I personally am really good at keeping things organized and don’t need a computer to do it for me, but that obviously depends on the student.</p>
<p>There are departments that prohibit laptops in class, though, and honestly I think they’re probably right. There are people who legitimately use laptops to take notes in a way that makes more sense to them, but even the more diligent students have a way of going on Facebook during lectures if they have the opportunity.</p>
<p>There is a blog called “Study Hacks” and it basically translates a lot of the GTD methods for University students. It is put out by Cal Newport and he has written books on study skills and the like. His blog is free and I have been reading through it in anticipation for when I start up at Community College. </p>
<p>GTD is very interesting and I really dig it. But there will always be folks who either go full on analogue or full on digital with it or who maybe even mix both things up. None of that is any different than what students in this day and age seem to do with their school work and all of that.</p>
<p>1) It depends on the class. In a history class with a professor who talks quickly there will be a lot more students using laptops than in a math class (where no one does). I can also save trees by not printing out the readings, and reading them on my computer instead. Students with smaller/ lighter computers (smaller than 13 inch screens) seem to be more likely to bring their lap tops to class. </p>
<p>2) I print out my notes. </p>
<p>3) Microsoft Word. Circus Ponies Notebook seems intriguing, but Word gets the job done. </p>
<p>4) My school stuff is backed up to Mozy and to Dropbox. A lot of my school stuff is also saved in my school email. </p>
<p>5) I use ical and a paper “agenda.”</p>
<p>6) Microsoft Office. Yes there are alternatives, but I’ve found it easiest to use what everyone else has.</p>
<p>My D was all gungho to use her laptop for note taking and that lasted about a week. She finds it better for her anyway to take written notes and then in the evening she rewrites onto her laptop. She finds that doing this is reviewing the work and understand it better. It also didn’t hurt that the battery didn’t last all day and she couldn’t find plugs in all classes to use. She is at the end of sophomore year and has no interest in carrying it to classes.
Just a side note for anyone looking for cheap way (free)to back up their child’s data we use Buddybackup and think it works great. All of her files are back up on my computer in an encrypted file and she can access them from any other computer if needed as long as I am online. It has come in handy once but the neat thing about it is that she also has 2 other friends that use it and they all back up to each others computer as well. It is safe in that it is password protected and encrypted…</p>
<p>On a related note, we’re trying to decide what size laptop is appropriate for the occasional in-class note-taking. Son says he will take notes on it, but we fear he may be on Facebook! So, we want something that he would only take if he really can benefit from it!</p>
<p>So, we’re thinking a 15.6" laptop is about right.
Does this logic make sense?</p>
<p>I don’t believe either of my S’s used laptops a lot for note taking. I did hear S2 say that his smart phone had some sort of note taking app. and that he sometimes used that for typing in key phrases/concepts, sort of a list of important points to review later.</p>
<p>I think smart phones and lap tops can sometimes be a nuisance in class. The clacking of the keys can be distracting in a large class with dozens of kids are clacking away.
S2 had a class last sem. where cell phones were forbidden…had to be turned off before entering the classroom. Prof. told the kids if they were caught using cell phone (even if it rang or vibrated) in class their final class grade would be dropped by one letter grade.</p>