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General discussion (archive)Anyone use laptops in class for notes?(30 posts)(30 posts)
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Posted January 04, 2010
Does anyone here use a laptop for college or high school for note taking? I want to know if you've ever had teachers ban them for any kind of reason. Just had my first experience with it today. I dropped a class, only partially because of not being able to use a laptop. The primary was the class content was 10x larger than the description labeled, and was more designed for grad students, despite it being open to non-major undergrads to complete some of our "cluster courses".
So yeah, ever had your laptops banned from a class for any reason? And what was your take on it?
Posted January 04, 2010
I do, for certain classes. In lectures my laptop will always be on. In tutorials, only a few. Never been told off before for having my laptop on. I think some lecturers/tutors just like to kick a hoohah over nothing.
Posted January 04, 2010
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lowyhong: I do, for certain classes. In lectures my laptop will always be on. In tutorials, only a few. Never been told off before for having my laptop on. I think some lecturers/tutors just like to kick a hoohah over nothing.

His argument was that students will browse the web rather than participate in class. Last term, there was ONE student who did that, and about 20 students taking notes with laptops.
On a downside, I may have jumped into a much worse situation. I dropped a political science course to take Chinese Painting. It's with the same teacher who is teaching my History of Asian Art class. Professor reviews are NOT kind to her, and I have her for 4 hours total.
Posted January 04, 2010
Sometimes I have a laptop open, but very rarely do I use it during a class. If a teacher mentions a book I'll find it on Amazon, or if some due date is mentioned I'll add it to my Google Tasks, but that's about it. I guess I'd add a date to Google Calendar too. I have never not been allowed to use a laptop, other than during tests and such. If I was ever told to put my laptop away for no good reason, I would walk out of that class immediately.
EDIT: But I'm a software engineering student, so I'm probably not a good example!
Post edited January 04, 2010 by PhoenixWright
Posted January 04, 2010
I had a lot of math and science classes, so laptop wasn't really a good idea for those.
But for my comp sci and engineering courses (that aren't PURE math :p) I tend to use my lappy.
And honestly, the professor was probably right. People DO tend to browse with their laptops. Maybe you only SAW one student do it, or your rationale is just that only one person did it the entire time.
At my university, a lot of professors eliminate the "need" for laptops by providing the lecture slides separately, this way the students can focus on the lecture and fill in any blanks.
Besides, think about it from the professor's point of view: You get the possible annoyance of hearing all these fingers typing and clicking, and you might have to deal with an idiot who asks a question because he didn't hear you the first time (because he was IMing or checking his Facebook for "one second"). Just a lot of headaches
That being said, I have only ever had laptops banned in "non-real" courses (damned Breadth Requirements), but usually they just aren't needed.
Posted January 04, 2010
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Gundato: I had a lot of math and science classes, so laptop wasn't really a good idea for those.
But for my comp sci and engineering courses (that aren't PURE math :p) I tend to use my lappy.
And honestly, the professor was probably right. People DO tend to browse with their laptops. Maybe you only SAW one student do it, or your rationale is just that only one person did it the entire time.
At my university, a lot of professors eliminate the "need" for laptops by providing the lecture slides separately, this way the students can focus on the lecture and fill in any blanks.
Besides, think about it from the professor's point of view: You get the possible annoyance of hearing all these fingers typing and clicking, and you might have to deal with an idiot who asks a question because he didn't hear you the first time (because he was IMing or checking his Facebook for "one second"). Just a lot of headaches
That being said, I have only ever had laptops banned in "non-real" courses (damned Breadth Requirements), but usually they just aren't needed.

I sat in the back of the class, and she didn't bother to take notes at all. Ever. All she ever did was sit in the corner and play sudoku on her netbook, or browse websites. For 2 hours. Every time.
I should also point out that I am a History major, which requires an assload of research and note taking, and laptops are perfect for it. Taking 2 hours worth of notes by hand on medieval europe was hell until I got my laptop.
Posted January 04, 2010
Got a tool for you guys, Digital Voice Recorder. I got mine from Wal-Mart for $35, better than a $100 one I saw my doctor use. Stores days of constant talking in it's custom format, and you can upload to a PC if possible. Ask a professor if you can leave that on their desk, most will say yes and many won't care. That way you get the whole lecture.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Digital-Voice-Recorder-VR5220/dp/B001U5VND2
After getting mine things were never the same, got idea for my book? Talk about it quick before I forget. Idea about game/mod? Talk into the DVR. Lectures? Ditto....
Forgot to mention I also have an EEE 4G Surf version, wish I never did. While the idea is good for a porta OS with all basic functions, it's just not functioning. Keyboard is so small my hands hurt using it for more than 15 minutes.
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Screen-Celeron-Processor-Preloaded/dp/B000ZLSXJO
Don't buy into the E-Book fad, it's total crap.
Post edited January 04, 2010 by tb87670
Posted January 04, 2010
From my experience.... I used laptops to almost completely abandon them for these reasons :
The main problem with laptops is that unless you've a strict discipline, it's very easy to get distracted from actually taking notes, just open your net-browser and you're ready to ask other people's notes.
Tough if it happen you're following some very intensive classes about in history/anthropology/philosophy or anything else and that you type faster than you write then it may prove a good asset, but it can also become vicious as you can catch what I call "The secretary syndrome" : you just type what the prof' says without thinking how you could synthesise/shorten/simplify the content and thus miss some of the initial fresh thinking about the subject which is IMHO the key of a good understanding.
Posted January 04, 2010
When I was finishing Uni a couple of years ago laptops where allowed everywhere (and high-speed wireless connections available everywhere), so as long as you didn't cause any problems for anybody else nobody gave a fuck.
Despite that though, it wasn't really standard practice to use laptops during lectures or tutorials. Normally there wouldn't be any laptops up during most lectures. Just didn't catch on I guess, also it's engineering school so most lectures have a truckload of maths, which isn't all that practical to type on your laptop. Unless you hold the current world record in speed-LaTeX.
Posted January 04, 2010
avatar
tb87670: Got a tool for you guys, Digital Voice Recorder. I got mine from Wal-Mart for $35, better than a $100 one I saw my doctor use. Stores days of constant talking in it's custom format, and you can upload to a PC if possible. Ask a professor if you can leave that on their desk, most will say yes and many won't care. That way you get the whole lecture.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Digital-Voice-Recorder-VR5220/dp/B001U5VND2
After getting mine things were never the same, got idea for my book? Talk about it quick before I forget. Idea about game/mod? Talk into the DVR. Lectures? Ditto....
Forgot to mention I also have an EEE 4G Surf version, wish I never did. While the idea is good for a porta OS with all basic functions, it's just not functioning. Keyboard is so small my hands hurt using it for more than 15 minutes.
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Screen-Celeron-Processor-Preloaded/dp/B000ZLSXJO
Don't buy into the E-Book fad, it's total crap.

Hmm, those DVRs seem pretty nifty. Might have to get one just for jotting down notes and the like. What format is it when you connect it to your compy? Crapload of .wav files, or just one huge monster you have to dig at to get what you want?
Posted January 04, 2010
I used a laptop with a webcam that would record lectures or sometimes just the audio. Id also take notes with it, quite helpful if you can get all the hotkeys for highlighting and formatting so you can type on the fly.
Next year im grabbing a netbook for the same reasons. Notes/Homework/GOG'z!
Posted January 04, 2010
avatar
tb87670: Got a tool for you guys, Digital Voice Recorder. I got mine from Wal-Mart for $35, better than a $100 one I saw my doctor use. Stores days of constant talking in it's custom format, and you can upload to a PC if possible. Ask a professor if you can leave that on their desk, most will say yes and many won't care. That way you get the whole lecture.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Digital-Voice-Recorder-VR5220/dp/B001U5VND2
After getting mine things were never the same, got idea for my book? Talk about it quick before I forget. Idea about game/mod? Talk into the DVR. Lectures? Ditto....
Forgot to mention I also have an EEE 4G Surf version, wish I never did. While the idea is good for a porta OS with all basic functions, it's just not functioning. Keyboard is so small my hands hurt using it for more than 15 minutes.
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Screen-Celeron-Processor-Preloaded/dp/B000ZLSXJO
Don't buy into the E-Book fad, it's total crap.
avatar
Gundato: Hmm, those DVRs seem pretty nifty. Might have to get one just for jotting down notes and the like. What format is it when you connect it to your compy? Crapload of .wav files, or just one huge monster you have to dig at to get what you want?

They are nice, they are in some odd custom format called .voc I think. It can record only 17 hours in .wav format though if you want, but I prefer the 300+ hours of .voc because I really don't do listen to it on my pc, just on the actual DVR. It has ports for a mic and headset with options to choose from 4 storage folders and up to 99 files per folder, and hitting a few buttons you can append and edit your audio files on the fly. I love the thing, catch all my ideas I get on it but it works good when I got my CompTIA A+ too. Also something nifty is the USB plug is built in and flips out when you push a tab on the back forward, really slick and pro. In other words I give that DVR I linked above the 'l33t' rating :)
Posted January 04, 2010
I would if it didn't require me to keep my laptop on my person the entire time I stepped foot on the school grounds. Fuckin' apes...
Posted January 04, 2010
Of the two schools (Grande Ecole - grad level in France) I have been, it is completely commonplace in one, forbidden during lectures in the other, for the reasons you mentionned.
Posted January 04, 2010
Yes, I am using laptop and yes, I have dropped a class because the asshole didn't let me use it for some reason as well
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General discussion (archive)Anyone use laptops in class for notes?(30 posts)(30 posts)
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