Ipad for taking notes in class (or other gadget?)

[raam86]

I am about to start Uni' in a few months and I have been thinking of getting a kindle for books and hopefully for textbooks. However I got the understanding an Ipad does better with pdfs a research papers.


I am planning to start my undergrad studies in math. is it feasible to use an ipad for taking notes ? if not, would you stick to pen and paper a laptop + latex maybe? please share you thoughts and hopefully experiences.

I must say Ipad note taking with other capabilities ( i.e wikipedia on the go , 10 hrs battery life) seem very appealing.

 

[spacemaster92]

If ipad allows you to take notes very easily then its good

You should be able to write different mathematical signs fast and also easy to make changes...

i think you'd better use ipad and pen-paper together so that you can take notes more effectively and store pdf books easily...

 

[xGAME-OVERx]

I think the kindle's handling of pdfs is excellent. I recently proof read my 90 page dissertation with the commenting function. I also read papers on it, the math symbols & diagrams usually come out perfectly. I've used it more for academic stuff than for pleasure so far!

To be honest though, I don't think all that many textbooks are on kindle yet, but I may be wrong.

 

[PhDorBust]

I think you will be surfing facebook and playing games more than studying with your ipad.

Is there something wrong with pen and paper? Instead of using wikipedia, try thinking instead and let the idea simmer for a few hours, then look it up when you get home if you haven't answered it yet.

 

[General_Sax]

I don't use the Ipad for notes, but...

torrent(textbook) + Ipad = profit

 

[lurky]

Laptops rule. However, for math, I prefer pencil and paper. Laptop for absolutely everything else, though. I've seen people try to use iPads and they seem to work well if all you have to do is type, which I guess makes them a decent laptop replacement, but a laptop is more versatile (at least for now).

 

[ephedyn]

I use my laptop to take notes 100% of the time, math included.

The main attraction is how easy it is to organize my notes, because I have quite a handful of classes this semester. If I used a notebook and pen/pencil, I would need to carry around something like 6-7 different notebooks each day - and sometimes I get back only after 9 PM! Add taking them out in my room, sorting them again etc., I usually end up messing the order, forgetting where I had left a notebook for a while etc.

Which brings me to using just 1 notebook for all of my classes, which is very annoying because I have to jump from page to page to follow my notes from one particular class. Then there are some classes when you simply copied one or two sentences and it's tempting not to start over on a new page when you get to the next class. And the multi-notebook problem crops up again because it takes about a week to fill one notebook shared over a few classes. I would have wasted a lot of paper, to add, because there's a tendency to copy redundant things in class.

That leaves laptop vs electronic tablet. I don't like using an electronic tablet because my handwriting is never as fast as my typing. Think 130-140 words per minute; you simply can't keep that up on a pen. And besides, a LaTeX word processor makes formatting and typesetting my notes extremely easy - wham, section, subsection, example, theorem, proof, cut, paste, bullet, copy, paste, subsection, label equation, cross-reference - I'm not sure how you would go about doing that on a tablet!

One important trick is to map your school's network drive onto your laptop, so you can copy your notes folder onto your network drive on the go - just every once in a week will be safe - to backup your notes, in case your laptop fails.

Edit: And adding to what General_Sax said, I don't get why people use tablets to read ebooks - you can do the exact same thing on a laptop, or even a cheap netbook. I used about 30 ebooks from this semester alone (measure and integration is responsible for a majority of it, what a messy subject), which I'm sure is a lot more than most people actually read on their tablets. I use a Sony Vaio X, which weighs less than an iPad too.

 

[Dembadon]

Zebra® mechanical pencil
STAEDTLER® Mars® plastic eraser
Loose-leaf binder paper
Mini stapler

That's my system and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[physiker_192]

I like to use real paper, an ipad or a laptop just won't do for me.

What I carry around is only empty lined sheets, and whenever I get home I add/staple the filled ones with the rest of the respective course/subject lectures.

I might also carry print outs of the lecture slides if possible so I can write my own notes on them.

I find reading on screen annoying.

 

[Stickey]

Paper is easiest, and fastest. I've tried taking my netbook, and even though I'm pretty speedy at LaTeX, it's just too slow compared with writing a lengthy derivation on paper.

You can always write up your hand written notes in LaTeX to make them prettier, and it's a decent way to force yourself to go through the equations. Infact, this is part of my revision process.

I always take in coloured pens, though. I have black for writing, blue for equations, red for important boxes / notes, green for additional notes. Works pretty well, once you've got the hang of holding 4 pens in your hand at once ... Also, having something like this takes the monotony of note-taking away. If you're just copying from the board like a zombie, you really won't be taking any of it in.

 

[johnwilliam]

Working on a pen and paper is much better option, though you have to make some advantages by using Ipad.

 

[Simfish]

That leaves laptop vs electronic tablet. I don't like using an electronic tablet because my handwriting is never as fast as my typing. Think 130-140 words per minute; you simply can't keep that up on a pen. And besides, a LaTeX word processor makes formatting and typesetting my notes extremely easy - wham, section, subsection, example, theorem, proof, cut, paste, bullet, copy, paste, subsection, label equation, cross-reference - I'm not sure how you would go about doing that on a tablet!

One important trick is to map your school's network drive onto your laptop, so you can copy your notes folder onto your network drive on the go - just every once in a week will be safe - to backup your notes, in case your laptop fails.

Edit: And adding to what General_Sax said, I don't get why people use tablets to read ebooks - you can do the exact same thing on a laptop, or even a cheap netbook. I used about 30 ebooks from this semester alone (measure and integration is responsible for a majority of it, what a messy subject), which I'm sure is a lot more than most people actually read on their tablets. I use a Sony Vaio X, which weighs less than an iPad too.

How do you type so fast in LaTeX? (especially fast enough to type from lectures?) Do you write your own LaTeX macros?

 

[Stickey]

Once you're used to the syntax, it's pretty straightforward. It's obviously not as fast as writing by hand, but almost. And you're generally only using the same things over and over.
If you want a backup like that, try Dropbox. Very useful :)

 

[physics girl phd]

One word of caution: don't use going to the university as an excuse for buying:
1) something you aren't sure will work for you...
2) something you aren't sure other students will be commonly using
or 3) something that your professors might not be recommending for use.

This is particularly true of expensive items... and ones that might break easily if your backpack falls off a desk.

I'll note this with regards to #2: In grad school, we had one student that showed up with a "Thinkpad" when they were just barely on the market, and I believe it gave him a number of problems. Also, he had made such a "show" of using it in class the first term that most of us really didn't like him (for this reason and for the reason that he always asked the professors questions about simple material that started with the phrase "isn't it true that..." looking for self affirmation from them in front of his peers). You probably want to get started on the right foot with your peers, and while nice people can still own expensive things, in general modesty is a virtue, and you don't want to be showy (Did I mention this guy also made a big deal about his Prius while giving one of our fellow classmates a ride home and trying to convince her he would be a great date?... To give him a bit of leeway, some of his social awkwardness may have been because he was home-schooled for his K-12 education, although he also made a big deal of THAT).

All that story aside: I'm a lecturer at a large state university.. and most students at the undergraduate level that I see have laptops (and use pencil and paper). It's not to say that something more cutting edge in the technological sector might not help you... but you'll want to be sure before dropping your (or your parents') hard-earned cash on (or before adding it to your student loan costs).

 

[flyingpig]

I think people who uses ipads are just show offs

 

[ThomasMagnus]

Have you thought about a tablet laptop with pen support? They are more expensive but save loads of paper and help you organise notes (oneNote)

 

[deRham]

'Paper is easiest, and fastest.'

People often type faster than they write, and in the absence of matrices, etc with complicated commands, this should not be true.

 

[Sankaku]

Zebra® mechanical pencil
STAEDTLER® Mars® plastic eraser

Oh yes. Mechanical pencils are the most beautiful invention. My Dad always used a Pentel P205 when doing drawings - I think my IQ goes up by 10 points when I have one in my hand.

As much as I like LaTeX - nothing beats writing notes in the margins and drawing diagrams. I was corrupted by old Drafting classes (pre-CAD days).

 

[Skrew]

Does the Ipad have a pen input? I thought it didn't.

I likely personally wouldn't choose the Ipad, I would get a tablet PC that's built for pen input.

I don't take notes in general, but if I did I would prefer a digital copy.

 

[Ivan92]

I just began using my laptop to take notes for my Introduction to Human Communication Studies. I love being able to use Microsoft Word's Notebook template. All the other classes, I stick with my handy paper and pencil.

Some professors will not allow you to use any electronic devices so be sure to do not rely too much on the technology. Always have pencil and paper handy.

 

[feuxfollets]

LaTeX is fast but it doesn't feel as natural. And when I'm in math class trying to understand proofs and stuff I'd rather just be using pencil and paper.
I do type my math homework in LaTeX though.

For physics there's drawing and stuff that can't be replicated easily.

 

[raam86]

Thanks for the story about grad school!. And for the record it will be my money that probably won't be dropped on said iPad. I will get a kindle for the bus rides though!