POLL: College students...do you type notes on your laptop during class?

[iamme]

I didn't see this when I was taking classes, but my cousin told me that a huge % of students do it at her school. Just curious.

 

[Chaotic42]

Some of my professors told us not to. They don't like the clickety-clack.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Geek.

 

[arod]

I tried it once, about 5 mins later I was on solitare/frecell.

 

[iamme]

I was thinking it might be a good idea to hook up a little mic to your laptop and record the lectures. You could then burn them to CD's and listen to them while you drive. Great studying and cramming tool. For those who care about getting good grades, of course

 

[xospec1alk]

i was never disciplined enough to take notes during class, so i sold my laptop hehe

 

[max105]

this was somethign i've been wondering about too. I can't write nearly as fast as I can type. I usually spend most of my time trying to keep up with the lecture notes that I can't really absorb the information very well. I eventually stopped taking notes.

 

[RossMAN]

I can write/scribble faster than I can type.

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
I can write/scribble faster than I can type.

Amen to that. On legal pads procured during the staples $10 off of $10 craze no doubt.

I stiill wish i had that. I wanted to load up on batteries and start a black market when hurricane season came upon us.

-PAB

 

[Jumpem]

I'd probably give it a try if I had a laptop. THis kid in my data communication class last spring would watch south park episodes all through class.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: Jumpem
I'd probably give it a try if I had a laptop. THis kid in my data communication class last spring would watch south park episodes all through class.

lol, why bother even coming to class???

 

[Spac3d]

I can't type as accurately or as fast as I an write. Also, how would you take notes in math or science classes?

The hookup up a mic is a good idea, but I would imagine it would pick up an insane amount of background noise. Your ears are listening for the professor so we can block out other noises, but a microphone cant do that (well, technically you could make it pick up certain freq if you his professors voice freq, etc.)

Some people at GA Tech "took notes" im a laptop during CS class (CS class only actually, no other classes) and the building has wireless internet.... yes, you guessed it, they ended up browsing the web during class.

Spac3d

 

[gigapet]

class>..???? who goes tooo class?

notes????? wtf are those!

 

[wyvrn]

Buy a Unidirectional mike and sit at the front of the class. Its designed to pick up noise from only one direction, so point it at your prof. or ask if he will let you put it on the podium (some don't mind). I got one of these for my wife to use with her tape recorder, and it does a great job. Go to Radioshack.

No I don't take notes on my laptop because I don't have one, but that will be rectified soon

Originally posted by: Spac3d
I can't type as accurately or as fast as I an write. Also, how would you take notes in math or science classes?

The hookup up a mic is a good idea, but I would imagine it would pick up an insane amount of background noise. Your ears are listening for the professor so we can block out other noises, but a microphone cant do that (well, technically you could make it pick up certain freq if you his professors voice freq, etc.)

Some people at GA Tech "took notes" im a laptop during CS class (CS class only actually, no other classes) and the building has wireless internet.... yes, you guessed it, they ended up browsing the web during class.

Spac3d

 

[xirtam]

No, I used to, then I started playing games on my laptop. Now I take my palm, hook up the foldable keyboard. Take notes sometimes that way.

 

[StattlichPassat]

I never see anyone with a laptop in class, and most college students don't even own a laptop- common myth. It would be a distraction to the room to bring one to class and type on.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: xirtam
No, I used to, then I started playing games on my laptop. Now I take my palm, hook up the foldable keyboard. Take notes sometimes that way.

Yep, Palms are becoming slightly more common around the classroom- I bring my Visor to class nearly everyday, but it's not for notes. I read the latest news and reviews off AvantGo (including AnandTech!), then get a few games of Tetris and Asteroid in.

 

[RudeBoie]

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
I never see anyone with a laptop in class, and most college students don't even own a laptop- common myth. It would be a distraction to the room to bring one to class and type on.

Yup. I've always felt that college students with laptops are mostly driven by a "Look at me, I'm special!" attitude. There were some exceptions of course, but who needs to pay $1500 so they can improve their studies with a laptop? More like to play games in class or look cool.

 

[WarSong]

Originally posted by: RudeBoie

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
I never see anyone with a laptop in class, and most college students don't even own a laptop- common myth. It would be a distraction to the room to bring one to class and type on.

Yup. I've always felt that college students with laptops are mostly driven by a "Look at me, I'm special!" attitude. There were some exceptions of course, but who needs to pay $1500 so they can improve their studies with a laptop? More like to play games in class or look cool.

exactly. everytime i see someone with a laptop in class i think they are trying to show off. when i first got my laptop i thought about bringing it to class until i started seeing other people bringing theirs.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: WarSong

Originally posted by: RudeBoie

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
I never see anyone with a laptop in class, and most college students don't even own a laptop- common myth. It would be a distraction to the room to bring one to class and type on.

Yup. I've always felt that college students with laptops are mostly driven by a "Look at me, I'm special!" attitude. There were some exceptions of course, but who needs to pay $1500 so they can improve their studies with a laptop? More like to play games in class or look cool.

exactly. everytime i see someone with a laptop in class i think they are trying to show off. when i first got my laptop i thought about bringing it to class until i started seeing other people bringing theirs.

Task: take 6 pages of notes
Decent laptop: $1500
75 sheet spiral notebook and black Sanford pen: $1.

Hmm, lemme think about this one...

 

[diskop]

The only class that I ever brought my laptop to (had to give it back once I stopped working), I used it to watch Futurama on

I find it's easier to take notes on paper than to type it up, even though I type at about 130wpm.

 

[NTB]

I just got my laptop this summer. I probably won't use it in class to take notes, although I may re-type them later (more legible and easier to keep track of. I have a habbit of leaving my notes in class or wherever I'm studying.) The real reason I got it though was to be able to get some work done between classes. My campus has plenty of computers for the students to use, but most of them are junk. They're either incredibly unstable - thanks to all the crap that students install on them - or they just flat-out aren't working. The other reason that I bought a laptop was to have some mobility; more choices of where to work. I can take it to the library, which only has a couple of computers set up to search through the catalogs, or out on one of the benches around campus on a nice day. It drove me nuts last spring when I had a paper to work on and I was stuck down in the cold, windowless lab while it was 75 degrees and sunny outside.

Nate

 

[Shalmanese]

I guess Ill be the first to chime in with an actual SUCESSFUL attempt at laptops in class. Some tips for people wanting to take a laptop is that you should GET A BACKPACK and GET a 2nd battery! those two things make laptops so much easier to use. with a backpack, a laptop feels 100 times lighter than with a shoulder pack.

Over the course of 1 semester, I managed to take 52 pages of psych notes. 13,000 words in total. far more that I would have by hand.

Some advantages:
Work is a lot neater
Work is less likely to get lost
notes are searchable for a specific topic
fancy fonts and stuff
I type reasonably fast
my hand gets cramped less from typing than writing

Some disadvantages:

a lot of lecture halls arent designed for laptop use, often I find it better to use on my lap than on the desk
always chance of being stolen.
always chance of being broken.
easily distracted in boring lectures

Anyway, the real "killer app" for using laptops is when your in a Comp Sci class and you can actually program during the lecture, all the examples the lecturer is using, you can compile during the lecture and the concepts just work out a lot easier.

Also, its nice getting a crossover and *ahem* violate intellectual property... especially during an computer ethics lecture

The only time I have really watched a movie during a lecture is when I wanted to watch one with a friend.

Plus, I do all my programming on my lappie and its nice to have know I have everything at my fingertips rather than rely on the clunky lab machines (compile time is also cut in half )

In case your interested, Im using a IBM A30 P3-M 933, 256MB RAM, ATI Radeon mobility, 20Gb HD, 2 batteries, 14.1" TFT running XP etc.

 

[Electric Amish]

Any notes I do take I write down.

I try to pay more attention to the lecture than concentrating on note taking. That way I don't have to study later.

Seems to have worked since I earned a 3.95 GPA.

amish

 

[crystal]

Originally posted by: WarSong

Originally posted by: RudeBoie

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
I never see anyone with a laptop in class, and most college students don't even own a laptop- common myth. It would be a distraction to the room to bring one to class and type on.

Yup. I've always felt that college students with laptops are mostly driven by a "Look at me, I'm special!" attitude. There were some exceptions of course, but who needs to pay $1500 so they can improve their studies with a laptop? More like to play games in class or look cool.

exactly. everytime i see someone with a laptop in class i think they are trying to show off. when i first got my laptop i thought about bringing it to class until i started seeing other people bringing theirs.

Uh... some of the programming classes require laptops because they want you to do the lab. As for show off, most wouldn't care what other students have.