What do you use to take notes in class

[Raggmop02]

Hello everyone, I am wondering what you guys use to take notes during class. Do youprefer the typical way to take notes with paper and pen? Or do you use laptops? I am not a very fast typist so this would probably not work for me, but willing to try it I guess. I have also heard of smart pens sold at best buy that write with ink but record voice and note can be downloaded into a PC. Have anyone of you heard of these and if so would you mind sharing your experiences with me. THanks a million everyone!

Sandra

[Jill2Shay]

I use a LiveScribe Pen.

I'm actually going to start printing the PPTs on the livescribe notebook paper so I can take notes directly on the PPTs.

click the link. These pens are amazing. You can go back and click on the word you wrote and it will play back the audio of what the instructor was saying *when you wrote it*

So you can be like, w t f is this part about?... and then go back to what was said at the exact moment. There's also a search feature. You can type in "Renal" and it will take you to all the places you wrote that word and then play the audio of what was said when you were writing that word.

[Devon Rex, ADN, BSN]

I'm a very ssslllooowww writer and I can't listen to the professor while I'm writing ... SO... I highlighted my books and wrote a few notes on the side. I also printed out the powerpoint slides as Jill2Shay mentioned. You can also buy a digital recorder, if your school allows recording in class, so you can review what was taught.

Hope my two cents helped!

[soxgirl2008]

I'm old fashioned, I use pen and paper. Usually I just print out the power points and write notes on the side

[Stephalump]

I highlight in the book and/or write directly on the PowerPoints with a pen or stylus (if I'm using my iPad)

[BlueEyedGuy]

I used to print out the powerpoint as four slide per page and just take notes on that. I think that works best for me. Then I got tried of killing so many trees.

So, I'll just annotate the powerpoints on my laptop during lecture: Change the color of certain words on the slide, or just add notes in the notes section.

My other trick is to skip all that and just bring a handful of blank note cards and try to write 5 interesting facts (bullet points) on each one. If I end up with 8-12 of these cards for a three hour lecture, then I call it a success. I've noticed my attention during lecture is much higher when I use this method.

[mjo07]

I print put ppts before class and use them to take notes. 2-4 per page depending if there are pictures i need to study. After class I use the ppts to make my own outline, adding in any notes I took during class.

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

Pen and a highlighter. I found that the instructors I had that went fast were reading right from the book, so I learned which ones were better to follow along in the text with a highlighter and which ones it was better to listen to and write down notes.

[Raggmop02]

Thanks Jill2shay. Those are the exact pens I have been looking at and they seem great but was not sure if the technology delivered or not. It is great to hear they work great. Thanks for the input.Sandra

[Raggmop02]

Thanks Devon Rex. I have seen people do that in some of my classes. I do the reading but don't seem to remember enough of what I read to know exactly what part of the book I read it in so that I can highlight it. Lol! Any tricks you would like to share with me on how to do that?Sandra

[Raggmop02]

Thanks soxgirl. I usually do this but I end up writing chicken scratch and end up having to re-write or type my notes afterwards. Seems like to much time spent on it when I could be studying.

[SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN]

I, too,print the PPTs, 3 slides to a page, and write my notes there as the teacher goes along. It's what works best for me. I don't type fast enough to do it on the computer. There are a few people who do though. I will highlight certain things in the book as well if the teacher really stresses it.