Note Taking with iPad

[pathologyDO]

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Hello there! Incoming MS1 here, seeking advice for note taking during class.

For the most part I don't have much information to go off yet in terms of how note-taking is during medical school. In undergrad I usually either A) Took notes on key points made with paper/gel pen, or B) recorded lectures and then transcribed it.

Since it is apparent that there will be substantially more information to cover in a day's lecture during medical school, I have been thinking about whether note-taking will be anything the same as I have been doing. That being said, I don't even know whether or not we will take notes... maybe the powerpoints will already be sufficient?

But anyways, I'm looking for advice about technology in particular. My school is going to provide us with an iPad to use and since I'm not good at typing notes during lecture, I am considering getting a stylus. Since I usually take notes with a gel pen to write FAST, will the stylus/iPad approach be anywhere near the same experience? Can you really take notes fast enough with the stylus?

Additionally, what kind of apps do you use for note-taking? I imagine that a blank page is not what people take notes on, but rather you annotate PDFs or maybe powerpoints?

 

[Ismet]

It will depend on your school and what they provide as learning materials. My school prints and binds our lecture notes so the majority of people just take notes directly on the paper. A few people take notes using a tablet and stylus, but in my experience, that's a lot more cumbersome and time consuming than just handwriting. If the lecture has a lot of detailed PowerPoint slides that are not in our notes, I usually print out the slides and take notes on that. I do have an iPad and stylus, but I use it more for reading and annotating papers and occasionally for annotating powerpoints in anatomy.

I recommend Noteworthy, it's a 99 cent app that lets you take notes (typed or handwritten) and annotate PDFs from Dropbox or google drive.

 

[thedoctor8706]

You can grab any number of cheap styli off of amazon.com or something. I've used these:

http://www.amazon.com/Bundle-Stylus...e=UTF8&qid=1369111526&sr=8-10&keywords=stylus

They have worked great for me! It takes some getting used to, but after the adjustment, I found that I can annotate on an iPad faster than on real paper. Just make sure that if you want to clean your iPad's screen, use a microfiber cloth with a drop or two of WATER only. I made the mistake of using Windex electronic wipes, and those effectively ruined the baby smooth OLED coating on my iPad, which doesn't let the stylus slip as well as it used to. So use water only and try to avoid any ammonia based products.

As far as programs go, I use a 99 cent app called Notability to mark up my lecture notes. It integrates with dropbox, google drive, etc, and lets you do everything from highlight, to accurately take notes, to typing, to even taking a picture in class and dropping it right within your notes. You can use it to record audio segments of what your professor is saying too. I highly recommend it!

 

[LaurenMD]

Also an incoming MS1. Do way more people take notes on an iPad than on a laptop? I'm also in the camp of realizing the handwritten notes I used to take in undergrad probably aren't going to cut it in med school. But it seems like for anyone who types well, it would be way easier/faster to take notes with a laptop that has an actual keyboard than with an iPad.

 

[bfMD1291]

Also very interested in this

 

[Ismet]

Also an incoming MS1. Do way more people take notes on an iPad than on a laptop? I'm also in the camp of realizing the handwritten notes I used to take in undergrad probably aren't going to cut it in med school. But it seems like for anyone who types well, it would be way easier/faster to take notes with a laptop that has an actual keyboard than with an iPad.

From observing the people who go to class, I'd say the majority take notes on paper, and the next big chunk is taking notes on a laptop. Probably 3-4 people are using an iPad.

I purchased a Bluetooth keyboard to use with my iPad and it works pretty well. I've used it for small group sessions and occasionally for taking notes in class, but it does take some practice to get used to using a small keyboard and get up to the same proficiency as a laptop.

 

[HatWobble]

Things I've seen people do, in descending order of frequency:

• Handwritten notes on printout of slides
• Typing notes in the "comments" section of powerpoint files
• Taking notes on iPad w/ or w/o stylus
• Typing notes in Word/OneNote/Evernote etc.
• The ultimate note-taking setup that allows you to do all of the above things.

 

[thedoctor8706]

Also an incoming MS1. Do way more people take notes on an iPad than on a laptop? I'm also in the camp of realizing the handwritten notes I used to take in undergrad probably aren't going to cut it in med school. But it seems like for anyone who types well, it would be way easier/faster to take notes with a laptop that has an actual keyboard than with an iPad.

Typing notes may be faster, but as for me, I draw tons of diagrams, flow charts, annotations directly on PPT slides, etc, and in my experience these have been done much faster on an iPad

 

[Kaustikos]

Typing notes may be faster, but as for me, I draw tons of diagrams, flow charts, annotations directly on PPT slides, etc, and in my experience these have been done much faster on an iPad

I dunno... I've seen myself slower with typing vs handwriting. I can type fine (70-80 wpm) but I just find it way easier to scribble **** down instead of type.

I have a galaxy tab I use but I only use it for electronic textbooks...

 

[thedoctor8706]

I dunno... I've seen myself slower with typing vs handwriting. I can type fine (70-80 wpm) but I just find it way easier to scribble **** down instead of type.

I have a galaxy tab I use but I only use it for electronic textbooks...

I know I definitely move faster by scribbling down notes haha

 

[mvenus929]

Also an incoming MS1. Do way more people take notes on an iPad than on a laptop? I'm also in the camp of realizing the handwritten notes I used to take in undergrad probably aren't going to cut it in med school. But it seems like for anyone who types well, it would be way easier/faster to take notes with a laptop that has an actual keyboard than with an iPad.

So, my school is paperless. There are some people who still cling to the notes and print them out every week, but that's a much more expense than several are willing to do, so they've just adapted.

Most people in my class took notes on their laptops, usually using the notes section in the powerpoint files. I can think of a handful of people who used an iPad. I didn't own one until third year, and while I love it for being able to read up on things without stealing a computer on the floor, I don't think I'd, personally, find it useful to take notes on. But, maybe if you adapt early, you can make it happen.

I wouldn't suggest buying an iPad for the sole purpose of taking notes on it. If you already have one, your school is giving you one, or you're getting it for another reason, feel free to try it out. Otherwise, just get by with a sturdy laptop.

 

[LaurenMD]

Thanks for the input, everyone. My school will be providing us with iPads, but I just feel like using my laptop will be easier for me. My only reservation is I'm not sure how many diagrams I'll want to draw, or if all the diagrams will already be on the slides.

 

[bookfreak89]

My school gave us iPads, iAnnotate, Pages, and some other apps for free. All the lectures can be easily downloaded to our iPads via an app. It makes a little bit difficult to use your laptop, but it can still be done. Here are what students in my class use for note-taking on iPads:

-iAnnotate + keyboard
-Notability or UPAD + stylus (I use this method)

 

[NeuroLAX]

Any opinions on the Cosmonaut stylus? Looks a little on the bulky side but it's only $25. I've considered getting one but I don't know if I really need one considering I have printed class notes. I rarely use my laptop for notes and find the iPad keyboards a little annoying.

 

[pathologyDO]

Any opinions on the Cosmonaut stylus? Looks a little on the bulky side but it's only $25. I've considered getting one but I don't know if I really need one considering I have printed class notes. I rarely use my laptop for notes and find the iPad keyboards a little annoying.

Good question, I'm torn between the bamboo duo or the cosmonaut.

 

[BioBeaver]

My high school is one of the first in the country to issue every student their own iPad, and integrate it into every classes curriculum.

That being said, the pros are definitely the quick starting and opening of apps. I can barely stand to use PCs or laptops any more, just because the speed in my area is nowhere near what the iPad can get. Also, you have access to a lot of cool apps for school like Khan Academy to help with problems.

The cons are that there is no "Word" or "Excel" for the iPad, so you have to get Apple's version of these, and they don't convert perfectly into the Microsoft versions. Also, I've had a lot of difficulty figuring out how to print directly from the iPad. And lastly, it's easy to get distracted and spend most of your time on SDN 👍

 

[zlib]

I use Lecture Notes for iPad. It allows me to type text and draw difficult symbols/formulas inside a text string. No other app can do it.

 

[FulfilledDeer]

The idea of using a stylus on the iPad is much better than the result. Conversely, I had a laptop that flipped down with a pressure sensitive screen you could take notes on, and it was fantastic.

I struggled trying to get the iPad to work well for 3 months at the beginning of school. You know what I learned? If you're taking notes during lecture you're doing it wrong. You may think I'm exaggerating, but that's the truth. Just listen. Actively listen. Later you can go back and take some notes and fill things out. The more the year goes on, the more people seem to actually take this approach. Not everyone, but a sizable group.


Having said that, if you really want to take notes, the best setup I found was a keyboard for the iPad (I have the logitech ultra-thin, but I would seriously think about going with the full mac bluetooth keyboard) as well as a stylus. For most non-diagram notes (which will be most things) you will be faster on a keyboard both for intrinsic reasons, and the fact that notes on an iPad are a pain in the ass. Then when you need to draw something you can use the sylus and add it in.


Edit: Also, I should add that most people in my class who take notes annotate powerpoint .pdfs. I maintain you don't need to take notes, but you definitely don't need to draw anything (the powerpoints will hold all the necessary diagrams/equations).

 

[honeyyygirl]

notability is pretty sweet !

 

[JeetKuneDo]

The idea of using a stylus on the iPad is much better than the result. Conversely, I had a laptop that flipped down with a pressure sensitive screen you could take notes on, and it was fantastic.

I struggled trying to get the iPad to work well for 3 months at the beginning of school. You know what I learned? If you're taking notes during lecture you're doing it wrong. You may think I'm exaggerating, but that's the truth. Just listen. Actively listen. Later you can go back and take some notes and fill things out. The more the year goes on, the more people seem to actually take this approach. Not everyone, but a sizable group.


Having said that, if you really want to take notes, the best setup I found was a keyboard for the iPad (I have the logitech ultra-thin, but I would seriously think about going with the full mac bluetooth keyboard) as well as a stylus. For most non-diagram notes (which will be most things) you will be faster on a keyboard both for intrinsic reasons, and the fact that notes on an iPad are a pain in the ass. Then when you need to draw something you can use the sylus and add it in.


Edit: Also, I should add that most people in my class who take notes annotate powerpoint .pdfs. I maintain you don't need to take notes, but you definitely don't need to draw anything (the powerpoints will hold all the necessary diagrams/equations).

Agreed. iPad is best used if your school has well written note packets that are available in pdf format. Highlight and lightly annotate on them while you study. If one must take notes in class, nothing beats a pen and paper.