PDA's, iPods, and all the tech gadgets...

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Specializes in CNA, RN Student.

So I'm noticing this big trend with students and with nurses. The talk is about all the high tech gadgets with podcasts and information storage etc. A lot of my classmates record lectures and upload them to their ipods so they can continue to listen to them. I also hear a lot about nurses and PDA's. I have the T-Mobile MDA phone. It's like a mini laptop/pda and can record & store video's, web browse, has MS office and powerpoint, can voice/lecture record. It even has a little keyboard. I have had this phone for almost a year and I think it's great--but the fact of the matter remains that it is my cell phone! And I was wondering if anyone has any advice whether or not it might be worth to invest in a PDA or ipod and separate digital recorder if my phone already does all that stuff. I mean is having an ipod eventually going to be pertinent to my education? And although my phone has the video capability it plays them in Windows Media and doesn't support quicktime.

Any advice?

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Specializes in NICU.

It can be helpful; but not necessary. If you have time to listen to the lectures at home, I bet you'll find info you missed the first time. I'm thinking of getting a digital recorder to burn cd's from.

I love my ipod, but I only listen to music--I've got to keep part of my life separate from nursing school :)

If your phone works for you, then it does. I wouldn't get more than you'll use. All that stuff is darn expensive . . .

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Specializes in NICU.

Hi DesertRain -

I have the same dilemma being that I have the same phone. I read some threads from members who have stated that certain clinical sites do not approve of students using a PDA-enabled cell phone since technically it is a cell phone. You may want to check with the clinical instructors to find out exactly what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.

lmv

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Specializes in CNA, RN Student.
Hi DesertRain -

I have the same dilemma being that I have the same phone. I read some threads from members who have stated that certain clinical sites do not approve of students using a PDA-enabled cell phone since technically it is a cell phone. You may want to check with the clinical instructors to find out exactly what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.

lmv

I know that's why I'm kinda bummed. I invested the $$$ into the phone and probably should have just gotten a regular cell phone and a PDA. The sad thing about it is I'm not even one of those people who are always on the phone. Sometimes days go by and I haven't used it (as a phone) lol.

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my mom is starting a big state university in the fall, so i got her a microphone that attaches to her ipod so that she can record her lectures & listen to them while walking around campus or in her car or something, but i'm not sure how great the sound quality is.

i don't think BUYING an ipod just to record lectures would be financially worthwhile since other than recording lectures (with unknown audio quality) you probably won't use your ipod at all for school. plus, if the sound quality isn't as clear as you'd like from your phone/PDA, you could always buy a nice recorder which would be WAYYY cheaper than buying an ipod.

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my mom is starting a big state university in the fall, so i got her a microphone that attaches to her ipod so that she can record her lectures & listen to them while walking around campus or in her car or something, but i'm not sure how great the sound quality is.

i don't think BUYING an ipod just to record lectures would be financially worthwhile since other than recording lectures (with unknown audio quality) you probably won't use your ipod at all for school. plus, if the sound quality isn't as clear as you'd like from your phone/PDA, you could always buy a nice recorder which would be WAYYY cheaper than buying an ipod.

I use my iPod for school. I record lectures using my laptop and upload them to my iPod, I also use it for file storage....oh and for flash cards. I upload text files, each text file is a side of a flash card.

That's not even counting the podcasts I download.....none are required for class, but they often give background and context to what I'm learning.

Peace,

Cathie

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I use my iPod for school. I record lectures using my laptop and upload them to my iPod, I also use it for file storage....oh and for flash cards. I upload text files, each text file is a side of a flash card.

That's not even counting the podcasts I download.....none are required for class, but they often give background and context to what I'm learning.

those are such smart ideas! i might have to steal them from you! i'd never thought of doing flashcards on the ipod, but it makes more sense than carrying around a giant stack of 3x5s. :)

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So I'm noticing this big trend with students and with nurses. The talk is about all the high tech gadgets with podcasts and information storage etc.

one thing you will discover

the older you get, the more you will notice that technology does NOT save time or money

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one thing you will discover

the older you get, the more you will notice that technology does NOT save time or money

I don't know.....I'm pretty old and I haven't experienced that.

Technology isn't a magic anything, it's a tool. If you use the right tool for the right job, you can be more efficient. It's really that simple.

The hard part of course, is to discern what tool will really help you. Our culture doesn't help this process by trying to teach us via ads that we need the smallest, fastest, most up to date version of every electronic tool. (and of course that you'll be happier, less busy, less stressed and thinner once you have them ;) ). A low tech version of this was my Chemistry class. My Prof was insane/crazy about handwriting. The first thing we turned into him, he circled all the letters and numbers that he didn't think were written properly. We were told that this time, he didn't take off points, but that next time he would. So, I learned that the tool I was using for class (a pen) was not nearly as useful as a thin mechanical pencil so that I could erase and re-write any offending character before turning in a lab or classroom assignment. It's all about the right tool.....technology is just a different set of tools.

What I do is figure out what tasks I need to accomplish (so for school, taking notes, recording lectures, doing research, creating and using flashcards, listening to lecture recordings, working at school or at home, writing papers and assignments). Anything that didn't help with those tasks was ruled out. So when I bought my laptop, I didn't get a huge screen with the latest and greatest video card with an internal CD/DVD ROM burner. I focused on a ultralight laptop that I can write on, record audio with that had the latest wi-fi protocols.

Another tricky part is that you can't use someone else's list of tasks you need the tool for, because you might have different priorities (ie maybe you have kids and would need a DVD-ROM on the laptop to keep kids with you busy while you're researching at the library)....the same way you wouldn't buy a car or a house because it worked well for your friend.

I don't think any of my technology tools has saved me money.....but I know that they've not only saved me time, they've allowed me to be a more efficient learner.

Peace,

Cathie

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ITechnology isn't a magic anything, it's a tool. If you use the right tool for the right job, you can be more efficient. It's really that simple.

I don't think any of my technology tools has saved me money.....but I know that they've not only saved me time, they've allowed me to be a more efficient learner.

Peace,

Cathie

Technology, per se, is wildly inefficient. The best use of it to process redundant data. Hardly nursing school material...

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Technology, per se, is wildly inefficient. The best use of it to process redundant data. Hardly nursing school material...

Technology is a very broad term. The best use of raw computing power is to process through redundant data to cull out information. That seems to be a very small slice of what encompasses technology these days.

As I said earlier, technology is a tool and like any tool it can be used in an efficient or inefficient way. Sounds like you've had experiences using the wrong tool for the wrong job.

Peace,

Cathie

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A lot of PDA cell phones work as a PDA only. You turn the cell phone off and the PDA still functions....

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