Note Taking Technology

[roush137]

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Hey Everyone,
I will be starting optometry school next fall and I was hoping to get some opinions on note taking. I have always been a paper and pencil person but I'm worried that there will be too much information in optometry school, and I also think it would be convenient to be able to search through notes. I have searched a few products, but I wanted to get some input before spending a ton of money. The products I've looked at so far have been:

Surface Pro 3 - It seems like the best of both worlds for typing and using a stylus for handwriting and annotating pdfs, powerpoints, etc.
Lenovo Yoga - Similar reasons as sp3
iPad - A little cheaper, plus I do have a laptop for times when I need to type.
Livescribe Pen/Notebook - I really like the idea of this, but I haven't heard many great reviews from professional school students.

Does anyone have any input on any of these or experience using them for taking notes in optometry school?
Thanks!

 

[Commando303]

Hey Everyone,
I will be starting optometry school next fall and I was hoping to get some opinions on note taking. I have always been a paper and pencil person but I'm worried that there will be too much information in optometry school, and I also think it would be convenient to be able to search through notes. I have searched a few products, but I wanted to get some input before spending a ton of money. The products I've looked at so far have been:

Surface Pro 3 - It seems like the best of both worlds for typing and using a stylus for handwriting and annotating pdfs, powerpoints, etc.
Lenovo Yoga - Similar reasons as sp3
iPad - A little cheaper, plus I do have a laptop for times when I need to type.
Livescribe Pen/Notebook - I really like the idea of this, but I haven't heard many great reviews from professional school students.

Does anyone have any input on any of these or experience using them for taking notes in optometry school?
Thanks!

I used (paper) notebooks.

 

[mathcod]

Whatever works for you should be fine. I for one value pencil and paper but I write very slowly and am super disorganized, so I used a laptop. Only downside was having a readily available outlet plus everyone around me found my typing annoying so it can be ostracizing.

 

[Eyeknow19]

Hey. I am going to be using my ipad in optometry school. Download a good note taking app and invest in a good stylus. Good Note (the app I use) allows you to upload pdfs, powerpoints, textbooks, lecture notes, pictures, and anything else and allows you to write and highlight all over them. You can create different folders for different classes and just take basic notes, too. A bonus is you can record lectures while the app is open. I am using my ipad because believe it or not the optometry school I am going to requires all students to have ipads with retina displays as most our books are pdf files. Regardless, I used my ipad for note taking in undergrad and I found it very effective. 🙂

 

[PBEA]

don't they have a note taking service at your school? that's the only way to go, IMO

 

[Commando303]

don't they have a note taking service at your school? that's the only way to go, IMO

The vast majority of persons in my class did take advantage of the note-taking service, and I believe most of them found it to be beneficial. Personally, I felt it was useless, so did not subscribe.

 

[caitlinfollansbee]

I have an older 17" laptop, a Surface Pro, and an iPad and I use 2 of them for taking notes. I'm still finishing my prerequisites and am applying to school this summer, but I thought I'd share my experiences.

The Surface Pro is great for typing papers and completing assignments that require flash (not sure if you've heard of McGraw-Hill's Connect or LearnSmart programs, but the assignments can't be completed on the iPad because they do require flash.) I like it because it is so portable, but still functions as a full desktop computer. I find that sometimes it is too small to use for long periods of time, and prefer to use my laptop at home if it's something that'll take a few hours. The Surface is great to use if you need something portable and you're completing a quick assignment. I haven't used the stylus to handwrite very many things because I ended up using my iPad for that. I do find that the handwriting with the stylus is pretty good, I just find the iPad easier to use.

The iPad is great because of its portability and I absolutely LOVE the app called Notability. It's definitely worth the $2.99 I spent on it. It allows you to type with the keyboard, highlight and write with a stylus (I definitely recommend getting one. I have the Jot Pro and I like it because it has a fine point), draw pictures using those two options, record audio of the lecture while taking notes, and upload everything to Dropbox or other various software so your notes are saved in the cloud. I also like that you can upload photos into the note or even upload pdf's of power points/handouts and write directly on them. I've found that it's really been great for studying biology since there are things I can type, and then draw pictures to label various things. I'll attach a photo of my some of my notes. I also liked the app for OChem because when you're doing mechanisms or anything that will take up a ton of notebook paper, it's easier to practice problems on a tablet/computer so they stay organized and it's easy to edit them and keep track of everything.

I'd recommend searching Notability on YouTube and see how it works in better detail. I've gotten about 4 other people in my classes hooked on the app because it's so easy to use. It's very user-friendly. Last week I threw away an entire trash bag full of old handwritten notes I took in my undergrad classes, which made me wish I'd used this app earlier. Digital notes are great because they're not bulky and they're searchable, which is SUPER helpful. You can also use Pages, Keynote, and Numbers on the iPad and save those online to access from another computer.

This semester I was taking Bio 2 and OChem, and I'm really glad I had my iPad. That's what I would recommend, just from using both, but it depends on how you take notes. I'd give the app a try and take some time figuring it out because I found it really improved my note-taking. I can only imagine it'll be helpful in optometry school, as well.

And I'm not pro-Apple for everything, I just find that the iPad is very easy to use and it is reliable. Plus the battery life is way better on it than the Surface. The Surface definitely has a pretty big learning curve to it if you're not too familiar with Windows 8. I'm pretty tech-savvy, but I found myself getting frustrated with the Surface just because I couldn't do things as quickly as I could on the iPad since I was new to Windows 8.