Difference between revisions of "The Quest for the Perfect Notetaking Medium"

Revision as of 03:07, 24 August 2008

Over the last few months, I have tried transition my note taking over to a computer. This essay is about my experiences trying to find the perfect note-taking medium. It is based on both my experiences at Haverford High School, and the Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence in Information, Society & Technology at Drexel University in Philadelphia. In both of these programs I used my own Fujitsu T4220 Tablet PC running Microsoft OneNote. The convertible tablet allowed me to either type or hand-write my notes using a special pen from Wacom.

With 1 month to go in 11th Grade at Haverford High School, I purchased a Fujitsu T4220 tablet PC for $1,215 (it normally sells for over $2,000). In school, I carried the laptop everywhere - and specifically did not carry it in a case so it would be easily accessible.

OneNote Rocks!

Using OneNote to organize notes is awesome. I really grew to like OneNote. It allows you to import content from anywhere, annotate that content, and then organize and search it.

You can import content into OneNote by pasting it in, clipping a section of the screen, or using its virtual printer to "print" it into your notebook. For instance, my Biology teacher used a lot of PowerPoints. If she posted them online (which I had to ask her to do many times) I could input the PowerPoint slides directly into OneNote. I could then annotate them with ink (as described below). In addition, I could easily paste in research that I found online. I could then "scan" it as I was taught in World Cultures by Mr. Cobb. "Scanning" means highlighting important parts and writing notes in the margin which come to mind. This technique helps me read better.

In addition, with e-Notes, you can easily add things including more space to write. With paper, if you want to add a line between 2 lines you already wrote you have 3 options:

1. cram it in - writing small and illegibly
2. write it somewhere else and draw an arrow
3. add it at the end and now your notes are out of order

With E-Notes you can rearrange and add notes, just like any document on the computer. You can also add space, for example with my "scanning" technique on paper I would have to cram my notes in the margin, on OneNote, I can add space between paragraphs and I have as much space as I want.

It is also easy to share notes with OneNote. For example, if someone missed a day of class, it is just 2 or 3 clicks to send them the notes. No need to track down a copy machine or transcribe them (which could be beneficial, however, if it forces you to read them)

The alternative for OneNote for many is to do each day's notes in Microsoft Word. The problem with this is that your notes are not organized and are scattered around in a bunch of Word files. With OneNote you can organize your notes into sections which are part of Notebooks. There is nothing to open, as everything is there. In addition, you can quickly search a section, notebook, or all notebooks for a keyword. With Word this is impossible, unless you use some sort of external desktop search.

Ink. Useful?

After talking with people at Gov School, I am recognizing that ink is more of a gimmick. I am using it less than when I first got my tablet. Writing is just so much slower than typing. Even web surfing feels faster with a mouse. Plus converting screen sizes was so slow with 1GB of RAM, so I avoided it. It's better now with 4GB of RAM, it's just that I am conditioned now not to convert modes.

When I am just taking notes, it is easier to type into OneNote. When I am surfing the internet I do it as a laptop. Perhaps I am just use to that.

However I use ink in 2 cases:

• drawling diagrams
• writing on PowerPoints and notes given by teachers "scanning".

It is just so much faster to draw anything. When I do sketches for GridView, I can draw in 30 seconds (and have it digitally stored) what would take me 5 min using draw tools.

In addition, when I get PowerPoints provided by teachers, or typed notes of some form, it is very helpful to be able to draw on top of them. First of all using existing notes lets me skip writing basic information and write more advanced notes. Plus being able to write on top of lets me add stuff without disturbing the original and lets me see where my notes stop and the given ones start.

In Psychology, the teacher handed out PowerPoints of each chapter in the beginning of the year. I did not have my tablet then, and I created this strategy of writing over PowerPoints on paper. The paper was a problem since I would often run out of space.

Biology

In Biology, we were allowed to use the laptops everyday to take notes. Most people just took notes in Microsoft Word. About half then printed them out for saving in a paper note book, and others amassed a collection of Word files on a flash drive.

Sure, some people played games on their computers or surfed Facebook. I did too in the beginning. (But I did less of it as I learned to control myself, and did even less when I had my tablet)

Gov School

The reason I purchased the tablet was to try out how to streamline my note taking for college and I thought the Gov School as a college precursor would be a good experience for me. I decided to do all electronic notes. This strategy is eaiser when most of the class is electronic, for instance, the professor gives out his or her notes or PowerPoints online, or if information from the internet needs to be added. For example, in Linux System Admin class, I imported tutorials from the internet into OneNote and highlighted the important steps and added notes in the margin. However, if the class gives out paper, it makes things harder. For instance, in UML/Systems Design class, the professor gave out his PowerPoints on paper. I found it is best to make the notes on top of the printed PowerPoint with a pen, and not make any notes in the computer, and then scan in the notes into my notebook at the end of the week. I realize that the scanning part is a major drag, however I've gotten better at it. I can scan about 50 page in an hour while also doing something else.

What I am trying to avoid is splitting my notes among paper and computer. I really want one centralized repository for my notes.

Some of the professors made their PowerPoints available and I wrote on top of them in OneNote. When notes were not given, I typed into OneNote.

Prof. Song, the UML/Systems professor at Drexel's Graduate School in Information Science said that I would "graduate suma cum laude from Harvard" due to the quality of my notes.

Paper vs Computer

I am currently debating which I will use next year. I've gotten quite good at making an organized paper notebook. I've been doing it for 5 years and I am proud of my organized binders, which neatly contain every paper handed out from the year or notes for every chapter of the textbook, even if it is not required to take them. I've even published some of my methods, for instance, my Headline Notetaking Format I developed in American Studies. E-Notes, even in ink, I think do not look as nice.

On the other hand, the computer has many advantages, such as the ability to easily include text and pictures from the internet.

What I think it comes down to however, is that paper notebooks work best when there are many handouts and worksheets (a more "strict" class). On the other hand, if much of the class happens on the computer already, or if adding information from the internet is vital, a E-notebook is better. (a more loose class)

If neither paper notes or worksheets are handed out, and the internet is not a big component of the class, then it is more of a toss-up. Paper notes look nicer, and I might get distracted on the computer. On the other hand, computer notes are easier to save, search, and share.

Notes in General

I hardly never go back and read them. Just the act of writing them helps (like Dr. Reilly). ThePlaz.com has turned out to be a trick for me to make my notes neat and organized (something I struggled with in Middle School) because I knew that I would have to scan, tag, organize, and post them for others to read.