ipad 2 or smartpen

[Buildbright]

I have suggested this before. Bluetooth keyboard or stylus. Also record the audio download it your computer clean it up in garage band or Audacity and use Dragon (it works) speech to text. That way the lecture is searchable. I know this sounds like a lot of work but it can be done in ten minutes.

IB is a hard but great program. The one thing to find is an App or Software that will allow you to catalog information for the duration of that program. That way it will be on the Final Exam. Alot of kids dont pass the Final because they catch on late on to save everything and review it.

I was in a IB Program and have very slow hand writing I had to voice record everything but back then we didnt have the great software of today.

 

[Demosthenes X]

To be completely honest, I'm at college now and I really don't see too many iPads in the lecture halls. Most people cannot type fast enough on the iPad to keep up with the professors. I know that, in theory, the iPad sounds awesome for college but it's really not for taking notes. It would be great, though, if you had time to kill in between classes. Most campuses have wifi everywhere and you could watch netflix or something without hauling out a laptop (if you have one.) So it has its uses but I wouldn't recommend it for taking notes.

And i've never heard about that pen, sorry.

I kind of disagree with the comment of not being able to type fast enough. Not because it's physically untrue, but because it's kind of not relevant.

I've found (and I think many others would agree) that I remember things better when I write by hand vs. use my laptop to take notes. I think this is because writing by hand, I cannot simply take everything the professor says verbatim, because I cannot write fast enough.

Thus, I have to think about what the professor is saying, and simply note down the most important thoughts and ideas.

In this respect, the iPad slowing down your typing speed might be a good thing, not a negative.

 

[saberahul]

I'm probably going to do it except for one problem. If a lecturer puts the powerpoint on our schools portal, I wont be able to see it on my iPad will I?

PPT to PDF? I suggest Keynote over iAnnotate (I don't like that application at all). Annotating PDF's? GoodReader is a popular choice but I prefer PDF Expert by Readdle (it has a much better UI and works flawlessly).

 

[Gus910]

I have just found a site which has most of the books i need in either pdf or epub. Which should I get and if I get epub would i need to get a certain program on my mac and ipad to view it?

Also can I still annotate on it on my ipad using iAnnotate or goodreader?

 

[metanoiac]

How about integrating pen&paper with the iPad?

() If you're in a field where hand drawn/written diagrams, notes, etc. are useful, various note taking apps that enable you to combine typing and handwriting are incredibly useful. But be prepared to PRACTICE. ...

I agree with a lot that is said in this thread, but I want to add a different perspective on the note taking / hand writing / stylus debate:

I try to use my iPad for everything, but it never really worked for me as a replacement for drawing freely when conceptualizing ideas. I tried a stylus and a ton of apps, but it never was the same. Maybe I gave up too early, but I came up with a different solution:

I carry around a thin moleskin that is about the same size as the iPad. In this, I am sketching out ideas, as I find that I am more immersed in my thoughts with pen and paper as compared to the iPad. It is about the haptic experience of paper that is important to me (and I am not that old!).

At the end of the work session, or day, I will then take photos of the important pages and send them to my Evernote account. It works okay with my iPhone 4 camera, and with the iPhone 4S it should be even better. Putting the handwritten notes and conceptual maps on Evernote makes them always available to you, you can tag them, and depending on your hand writing, you might benefit from the OCR in Evernote.

I also thing that this works for general note taking for students (e.g., when following a lecture). The benefit of writing per hand is that your brain does the work of distilling the message up front. Whenever I am typing notes during a talk, I have to constantly monitor against not becoming "transcript greedy" and type just along what is said. Writing per hand is slower, which can force you to focus more on what is the core thing that is said, and then write only that one sentence or few concepts down. This might work best if the content or lecture is well documented, for example when you are having the slides available to you anyways.

Does anybody have a similar workflow?