Do you bring your laptop to class/lecture?

[Di Deanna]

how many of you use your laptop, in nursing school, like it's goin' out of style ? :monkeydance:

i should start a nursing program in the next 3-6 months, and i'm debating over whether i should use my laptop or not. i will obviously bring a binder and writing utensils..but i'm wondering if i can keep more information in my laptop. i type 65+/wpm, so i'm thinking i may be able to get more information down. plus, it seems very organized.

what do you think? how did you go about taking notes and learning in your classes?

[Prettyladie]

Basically, you would want to use your paper wisely! There are 8 full size college ruled notebooks, plus other sizes that are numbered. If you only use half of notebook #1 for pharmacology, then it would be wise to use the other half for intro to nursing. The first set comes with notebooks 1-4. Then once you fill up those 4 notebooks (both sides of each paper), then you move onto notebooks 5-8. If you fill up all of those notebooks, then you will have to archive the first four notebooks (assuming you would need to go onto a 9th notebook) before you use another set of notebooks 1-4. The only difference with archiving is that you lose the "link" between tapping and playing the audio from the moment you wrote that word ("What was the instructor saying at the time I wrote that?") Otherwise, it's all still there in the computer, both the audio and digital notes. But by the time you go onto notebook #9 (which is really notebook 1 with the Pulse pen, again), I'm sure you have already filled in all the blanks, added your own notes, and studied everything you needed with all the other notebooks. So the "link" between audio and the handwritten notes may not be a big deal if lost later. It takes a long time to fill up eight notebooks, unless you write really large and waste a lot of paper (which I don't, personally). I try to conserve my paper.

So, I hope that answers your question.

Thank you so much. That was what I was thinking, that maybe by the time I'm done with all the notebooks, I can use another number one notebook, and the very first notebooks with the notes will be saved on my computer and in the original notebooks. Does that make sense, I hope that I am interpreting this right. So I'm going to try to break it down and tell me if this is right. So I buy the "set" which has 1, 2, 3, 4 and then the second "set" has 5, 6, 7, 8. Use all of 1-4, then go to 5-8?? Never buy two "sets" of 1-4 because that is when the taps will be off? And once I go through 1-8 I'm sure I can be done with all those notes and its safe to start over again with a numbered one which in actuality is 9??? And when you say archive, that means uploaded to the computer or what? Sorry, for all the questions I'm just trying to understand all of the basics and details before I make this pricey purchase, but it does sound neat and it seems beneficial.

[MystyqueOne, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much. That was what I was thinking, that maybe by the time I'm done with all the notebooks, I can use another number one notebook, and the very first notebooks with the notes will be saved on my computer and in the original notebooks. Does that make sense, I hope that I am interpreting this right. So I'm going to try to break it down and tell me if this is right. So I buy the "set" which has 1, 2, 3, 4 and then the second "set" has 5, 6, 7, 8. Use all of 1-4, then go to 5-8?? Never buy two "sets" of 1-4 because that is when the taps will be off? And once I go through 1-8 I'm sure I can be done with all those notes and its safe to start over again with a numbered one which in actuality is 9??? And when you say archive, that means uploaded to the computer or what? Sorry, for all the questions I'm just trying to understand all of the basics and details before I make this pricey purchase, but it does sound neat and it seems beneficial.

Yes, you are exactly right with the notebooks. Every time you put the pen on its cradle, it automatically uploads the handwritten and audio to your computer. WHen you archive the notebooks (when they are complete and finished and you no longer need the "tap on demand" feature), you are basically saving the notebooks on your computer just to keep it digital (both handwritten and audio, but not linked, hence the "tap on demand"). But, it won't be on the pen to listen to anymore (you can always go to your computer, though). You only need to do this if you plan on using another set 1-4 notebooks or set 5-8 notebooks. If you didn't... what would happen is that it would be like whatever is on page 1 of notebook 1 would overlay the second page 1 of notebook 1. It would all be written on top of one another (digitally, even though you really used two different notebooks... but they both happened to be notebook 1). I think the audio would still be there, but obviously jumping from different lectures back and forth, which could really cause some confusion. The pen also comes with a starter notebook, so, if you were to purchase the two sets (1-4 and 5-8), then you would have a total of 9 notebooks (the starter notebook is 100 pages just like the others). And of course, the flip pad notebooks and journals are always available. They also offer the unlined journals if ever needed. I only use the notebooks right now, but may purchase some flip-pads for the clinicals. Just use your paper wisely. In nursing school, you'll always need to review everything you've learned anyhow, so why not try to keep it all in one place?

The cool thing I have found with the computer program is that as long as you write horizontally in the notebooks, you can search for a certain word... for example, if you were writing down hematoma and then search for "hematoma", it will find everywhere in the notebook for "hematoma" and highlight it for you (along with an index on the left side showing the other pages where that word was found). I don't know how it recognizes your handwriting, but it does and it's absolutely awesome that it does that (and I make my 'A's like the old fashioned a's like what you see in this font...).

I think it is so worth it!!!

I'm only a semi-pro on this pen because I printed out the manual and read everything about it! (I'm wierd like that... HA HA.)

[Prettyladie]

haha. thanks mystyque!! im so well informed with this pen. but do you use your laptop in class? and how is the sound quality in a room with the recorder on the pen. do you have to sit in the front row. and i know you have to press record and all that, so is that loud when you're starting to take notes in class?

[MystyqueOne, BSN, RN]

haha. thanks mystyque!! im so well informed with this pen. but do you use your laptop in class? and how is the sound quality in a room with the recorder on the pen. do you have to sit in the front row. and i know you have to press record and all that, so is that loud when you're starting to take notes in class?

Hello,

No, I do not use my laptop. I tried it, but I find that it wastes time with me personally. No matter what, I need to handwrite my notes, whether it be right there in class, or later (which would be a waste of time since I could do it right there in class). I've only used the recording during a meeting, but I usually sit near the front and center (not right in the first row, though). WHen you tap the record button, it just makes a "click" noise, but you can mute the pen so that it doesn't make any noise at all. The pen is so slick that I don't think anyone would even notice it's a recorder. I, personally, have permission to record (I asked the dean).

You'll love it.

[medgirlRN]

I didn't take my laptop to class. There was too much going on that just taking it out and putting it away seemed to take too much time and attention away. I would take notes on ppt slides printed out, regular paper, then go home and either re-write in my laptop or designated notebook. This way, too, if I needed to refer to something from a previous demo or lecture I could easily pull out my notes and not my laptop. I just didn't see a need or use for them during class time.

[CuriousMe]

It all sounds complicated. I'll stick to my tablet laptop. I can still write, it still records, it still does a word search for my handwritten notes and it still synchronizes the audio recording with what I'm writing....but I don't have to worry about paper at all, never mind special paper.

I guess I'm just an old phart :-)

Peace,

CuriousMe

[MystyqueOne, BSN, RN]

It all sounds complicated. I'll stick to my tablet laptop. I can still write, it still records, it still does a word search for my handwritten notes and it still synchronizes the audio recording with what I'm writing....but I don't have to worry about paper at all, never mind special paper.

I guess I'm just an old phart :-)

Peace,

CuriousMe

It all depends on your individual learning style. I, personally, learn best by physically writing out my notes on paper. Some can learn by just reading. It's all an individual preference! Someone else brought a good point that I forgot about... the time it takes to set up the computer and turn it on and the time it takes to turn it off and put away. I know it may be only a few minutes, but with nursing school, every minute is precious!

[CuriousMe]

It all depends on your individual learning style. I, personally, learn best by physically writing out my notes on paper. Some can learn by just reading. It's all an individual preference! Someone else brought a good point that I forgot about... the time it takes to set up the computer and turn it on and the time it takes to turn it off and put away. I know it may be only a few minutes, but with nursing school, every minute is precious!

Very true about learning styles. I also need to write to understand. That's why I write my notes on my tablet laptop (see the link below). The screen of my laptop swivels around and then lies flat over the keyboard and I write on the screen. I use Microsoft OneNote to write and organize my notes. I can even load my teacher's powerpoints into OneNote, then write directly on the slides, or copy the definition or an illustration from Taber's online and paste it into my notes (it automatically includes a link to the source so that I can get more information if I need it). It also records my lectures and synchronizes the recording to what I write. So, anything I write has a play button next to it (when I press play, it starts 5 seconds before I wrote that line. All that without special paper and in a format that works with the rest of Microsoft Office. (Oh, it's also a regular laptop, so I write papers on it, reply on AllNurses, etc)

No set up time needed either. My computer goes to sleep when I close it and wakes up when I open it. No boot time needed. My computer is up and running before most folks have turned to the right page in their binder/notebook.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/thinkpad/x-series-tablet

[MystyqueOne, BSN, RN]

Very true about learning styles. I also need to write to understand. That's why I write my notes on my tablet laptop (see the link below). The screen of my laptop swivels around and then lies flat over the keyboard and I write on the screen. I use Microsoft OneNote to write and organize my notes. I can even load my teacher's powerpoints into OneNote, then write directly on the slides, or copy the definition or an illustration from Taber's online and paste it into my notes (it automatically includes a link to the source so that I can get more information if I need it). It also records my lectures and synchronizes the recording to what I write. So, anything I write has a play button next to it (when I press play, it starts 5 seconds before I wrote that line. All that without special paper and in a format that works with the rest of Microsoft Office. (Oh, it's also a regular laptop, so I write papers on it, reply on AllNurses, etc)

No set up time needed either. My computer goes to sleep when I close it and wakes up when I open it. No boot time needed. My computer is up and running before most folks have turned to the right page in their binder/notebook.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/thinkpad/x-series-tablet

That is so cool, but I have learned my lesson with laptops!!! Jest recently, my laptop of only two years old had overheated because I used to just close my laptop (putting it in sleep mode) and open it back up in class and vice versa. Yeah, long story short... I lost my laptop and had to purchase another one!!! It was still in great condition, except it just overheated from doing that one too many times!

Also, I just don't find it convenient to take a laptop to clinicals. That's why I like the pulse pen along with the smaller flip paper pads you can get. When not in use, just stick them into your pocket. You can't do that with a laptop, no matter how small it is. I like that laptop, though! If only I saw that a month ago before I purchased this one.... (I also purchased the FIVE year warranty... just in case...)

[CuriousMe]

That is so cool, but I have learned my lesson with laptops!!! Jest recently, my laptop of only two years old had overheated because I used to just close my laptop (putting it in sleep mode) and open it back up in class and vice versa. Yeah, long story short... I lost my laptop and had to purchase another one!!! It was still in great condition, except it just overheated from doing that one too many times!

Also, I just don't find it convenient to take a laptop to clinicals. That's why I like the pulse pen along with the smaller flip paper pads you can get. When not in use, just stick them into your pocket. You can't do that with a laptop, no matter how small it is. I like that laptop, though! If only I saw that a month ago before I purchased this one.... (I also purchased the FIVE year warranty... just in case...)

Yeah, I don't take it to clinicals, I just take my PDA to clinicals (it has all my resources...ie drug books, iv drug book, Tabers, Dx book, lab values, etc).

Laptops will overheat if you don't let them turn off before putting them in your bag. They go to sleep, but not right away ( most laptops have a motion detector in them, and the hard drive freezes if it detects motion---protects the hard drive in a fall---BUT if you put the laptop in your bag BEFORE it turns itself off.....it won't turn off until it's still long enough for the hard drive to unlock and shut down....hence the overheating). I usually just carry it out, if I need to leave quickly (it's under 4 lbs and small....so it's not a problem).

Oh and an extended (and accidental) warranty is ALWAYS a good idea on portable electronics. It's generally not worth the money for a desktop (replacement parts are cheap and many techie types will do the labor for a home cooked meal ).....but parts are pricey for laptops.

Best of luck and glad you've found a system that works for you!

Peace,

CuriousMe

Recovering Techie ;-)

[MystyqueOne, BSN, RN]

Yeah, I don't take it to clinicals, I just take my PDA to clinicals (it has all my resources...ie drug books, iv drug book, Tabers, Dx book, lab values, etc).

Laptops will overheat if you don't let them turn off before putting them in your bag. They go to sleep, but not right away ( most laptops have a motion detector in them, and the hard drive freezes if it detects motion---protects the hard drive in a fall---BUT if you put the laptop in your bag BEFORE it turns itself off.....it won't turn off until it's still long enough for the hard drive to unlock and shut down....hence the overheating). I usually just carry it out, if I need to leave quickly (it's under 4 lbs and small....so it's not a problem).

Oh and an extended (and accidental) warranty is ALWAYS a good idea on portable electronics. It's generally not worth the money for a desktop (replacement parts are cheap and many techie types will do the labor for a home cooked meal ).....but parts are pricey for laptops.

Best of luck and glad you've found a system that works for you!

Peace,

CuriousMe

Recovering Techie ;-)

I also have a PDA that is loaded with nursing resources, like yours. I will probably take that with me to clinicals, too.

Thanks for the explanation of why my other laptop overheated! I looked into replacing the motherboard on it, but it was just as much as just buying a new laptop... so I did just that! I've never purchased warranties on my desktops since I've always personally upgraded them (I'm the little techie you were talking about...). Replacing the motherboard is the most pain to do in a desktop, but much cheaper than purchasing a whole new system!

Thanks again!

Back to the pen... Everyone has their own preference and learning styles.

You're very knowledgeable!

[AOx1]

I need to stop obsessively checking this thread before I end up buying everything on it asap. It's ridiculous, I'm an instructor and still want all these things, even the OneNote. I guess I'll always want the newest technology, lol.

Can you easily publish OneNote things to the web?