Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Monkeybot · 07-08-2003, 09:24 PM

Laptops are required at my school, and a lot of people bring them to class to take notes.

I don't like doing it personally because I hate lugging the damn thing around, but I certainly don't mind others who do (as long as they're quiet about it, which most are).

NonHomogenized · 07-08-2003, 10:10 PM

My only problems with using a laptop to take notes:
1) I don't have a laptop
2) what about my calculus, physics, etc, where I use various non-standard symbols? I'd either have to type them out, or make something up to approximate it, and either way, I'd have to have it at the top and bottom of each page, or I'd forget my system for the first half of the semester.

Other than that, I think it's great. I wish I had a laptop so I could do it.

ju'iblex · 07-08-2003, 10:19 PM

or you could get an actual mathematics program, that would work too. But you would need a laptop first i guess

Nikolai · 07-08-2003, 11:16 PM

[brag] Well the school system in my county has purchased a personal laptop for each high school student (and, from what I hear, middle school, which in my oppion is rather excessive). [/brag] .

Of course they just had to make them I-books. The great thing, thoght, is the wireless internet, as well as trying to break past the crappy Macintosh security (it took an giant corporation 3 different setups before they could stop a buch of high school students :banghead: )

Chicken Girl · 07-08-2003, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jacey
In Legally Blonde , Elle Woods had a cute laptop and she was valedictorian, so when I go to a real college (not a local CC) I'm going to get a laptop cuz eye type much more better then eye right and she was valedictorian and I wanna be rich.

In Legally Blonde, everyone had a laptop.

nogods4me · 07-09-2003, 04:47 AM

Well a laptop would certainly be easier then the way I had to take notes back in the day. Do you know how noisy it is when 30 students are all chiseling their notes into granite blocks at the same time the instructor is talking?

Godot · 07-09-2003, 05:40 AM

While I don't think there was anything wrong with using a laptop in class per se, I've always thought the person doing so to be a complete tosser.
But then again, it's not too common to see a student using their laptop in an anatomy lab, but one of my students insisted on doing so last semester.

Jimmy Higgins · 07-09-2003, 06:31 AM

I feel the same way on science and math. Those symbols just don't type up without a little effort. And what about flow charts and diagrams? Darn it, whats the ASCII code for a Venturi Meter?

Or how do I draw this truss diagram with the loadings on it?

I usually like to use arrows to denote important between subjects and when you are moving quickly in a class, who would have the time to be drawing arrows with the laptop? I'd also jot down something that happened in the lecture, that would help my memory remember most of it. If I can remember a couple parts to a lecture, I tend to be able to remember the entire thing. That would be a bit awkward on a laptop unless you put it in the header or footer. A laptop is just too much work to make anything easier, but thats coming from an engineer, not a history or liberal arts major where taking notes is a whole bunch different. But most importantly, how the heck can you doodle without a pen and paper?

Worldtraveller · 07-09-2003, 06:56 AM

Many classes are allowing laptops more and more, it isn't generally rude, as long as the sounds are turned off as necessary.

My wife uses a laptop, or a PDA with a keyboard, depending on how much power she needs.

As far as taking notes in math classes, while I would still probably use pen and paper, athough there are some very useful programs out there for doing just that.

MathCAD comes to mind www.mathsoft.com and they offer an inexpensive full featured student version through most college bookstores.

I never had a laptop in college to take notes with, but I used it at home to do all my homework my senior year.

And there are similar programs for circuits, flowcharts, etc. I just don't know any of those off the top of my head. And many of them have free downloads.

Cheers,
Lane

NialScorva · 07-09-2003, 08:26 AM

I've been rather impressed by Scientific Notebook for math. All of my math classes this summer use it for quizes and homework. I wouldn't want to take notes in it, but that's mostly because I take about 1/4 the notes that anyone else does, and most of them are semi random things written in code that I'll never look at again.

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07-08-2003, 09:24 PM	#11
Monkeybot Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: North Carolina Posts: 8,102	Laptops are required at my school, and a lot of people bring them to class to take notes. I don't like doing it personally because I hate lugging the damn thing around, but I certainly don't mind others who do (as long as they're quiet about it, which most are).

07-08-2003, 10:10 PM	#12
NonHomogenized Veteran Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: no longer at IIDB Posts: 1,644	My only problems with using a laptop to take notes: 1) I don't have a laptop 2) what about my calculus, physics, etc, where I use various non-standard symbols? I'd either have to type them out, or make something up to approximate it, and either way, I'd have to have it at the top and bottom of each page, or I'd forget my system for the first half of the semester. Other than that, I think it's great. I wish I had a laptop so I could do it.

07-08-2003, 10:19 PM	#13
ju'iblex Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Sydney Australia and beyond the realms of Gehenna Posts: 6,035	or you could get an actual mathematics program, that would work too. But you would need a laptop first i guess

07-08-2003, 11:16 PM	#14
Nikolai Regular Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Richmond, Virginia Posts: 422	[brag] Well the school system in my county has purchased a personal laptop for each high school student (and, from what I hear, middle school, which in my oppion is rather excessive). [/brag] . Of course they just had to make them I-books. The great thing, thoght, is the wireless internet, as well as trying to break past the crappy Macintosh security (it took an giant corporation 3 different setups before they could stop a buch of high school students :banghead: )

07-09-2003, 04:47 AM	#16
nogods4me Contributor Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD USA Posts: 17,432	Well a laptop would certainly be easier then the way I had to take notes back in the day. Do you know how noisy it is when 30 students are all chiseling their notes into granite blocks at the same time the instructor is talking?

07-09-2003, 05:40 AM	#17
Godot Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Calgary Posts: 1,335	While I don't think there was anything wrong with using a laptop in class per se, I've always thought the person doing so to be a complete tosser. But then again, it's not too common to see a student using their laptop in an anatomy lab, but one of my students insisted on doing so last semester.

07-09-2003, 06:31 AM	#18
Jimmy Higgins Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Proud Citizen of Freedonia Posts: 42,473	I feel the same way on science and math. Those symbols just don't type up without a little effort. And what about flow charts and diagrams? Darn it, whats the ASCII code for a Venturi Meter? Or how do I draw this truss diagram with the loadings on it? I usually like to use arrows to denote important between subjects and when you are moving quickly in a class, who would have the time to be drawing arrows with the laptop? I'd also jot down something that happened in the lecture, that would help my memory remember most of it. If I can remember a couple parts to a lecture, I tend to be able to remember the entire thing. That would be a bit awkward on a laptop unless you put it in the header or footer. A laptop is just too much work to make anything easier, but thats coming from an engineer, not a history or liberal arts major where taking notes is a whole bunch different. But most importantly, how the heck can you doodle without a pen and paper?

07-09-2003, 06:56 AM	#19
Worldtraveller Banned Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 7,834	Many classes are allowing laptops more and more, it isn't generally rude, as long as the sounds are turned off as necessary. My wife uses a laptop, or a PDA with a keyboard, depending on how much power she needs. As far as taking notes in math classes, while I would still probably use pen and paper, athough there are some very useful programs out there for doing just that. MathCAD comes to mind www.mathsoft.com and they offer an inexpensive full featured student version through most college bookstores. I never had a laptop in college to take notes with, but I used it at home to do all my homework my senior year. And there are similar programs for circuits, flowcharts, etc. I just don't know any of those off the top of my head. And many of them have free downloads. Cheers, Lane

07-09-2003, 08:26 AM	#20
NialScorva Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Median strip of DC beltway Posts: 1,888	I've been rather impressed by Scientific Notebook for math. All of my math classes this summer use it for quizes and homework. I wouldn't want to take notes in it, but that's mostly because I take about 1/4 the notes that anyone else does, and most of them are semi random things written in code that I'll never look at again.

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