Do a lot of college students use note taking software in the classroom yet?

My lab partner showed me Onenote from Microsoft Office, which is a great program and allows you to put in all sorts of equations, lines, arrows, put text where you want; basically it just made sense if you wanted to take notes.

However, the main problem I’ve come across is that if you want to take notes, get a touch screen notebook so you can actually take notes, rather than sit there and type them out (or atleast I personally would prefer that despite the fact that yes I am a fairly fast typer, I think I learn more writing than typing)...

I think the main issue is that since wifi is basically a necessity nowadays at college, people find themselves attracted to the internet etc. and away from their classwork, everyone i’ve seen with their laptops in class (well not everyone, but close enough), will be chatting to their friends, facebook, you name it they are probably doing it besides paying attention and taking notes.

I however want to get something like the Eee PC or some ultra portable for a cheap price that I can take to class and take notes on, because my iPod touch won’t cut taking notes as easily as a mini pc, as opposed to my behemoth 17” e1705

I use my laptop in class and can find myself distracted from time to time. However, when I use as a supplement to note taking and lecture I find it very useful.

For example, in chemistry I keep a periodic table program open that has information about states at stp, or ionisation energies.

I tend to keep wikipedia open for quick access to concepts not explained clearly. I’m not such a fan of laptops for note taking as many of my classes involve diagrams or non-standard characters that are a pain to type in.

I don’t know, maybe its just me but I retain information way better by writing my own notes. I probably will never use a laptop or any type of software.. I’d get distracted.

In this study from 2005, 37% of the students in graduate school took notes electronically. It was a small sample. It does reference some other studies.

@TheHaight

ditto. I need to have the old pen and paper

I’d be distracted with a laptop however I don’t like writing down all the notes either. Thankfully all my teachers this past year used power point and had them up on their web sites so I was able to have a print out of the notes and add tid bits of information if I felt like I needed it. It was very nice doing this so that I could sit and really listen instead of focusing on writing. I wish more teachers did it.

For me, when I take notes with pen and paper, it is like I am inscribing the information into my brain. It really helps me retain it. I am not sure that would happen typing or with an electronic note program. I have to confess I haven’t tried it though.

I wish to god I had a laptop when I was in school for notes. I have ET and can’t write for squat. And when I do, I can’t read it. I also get frustrated and start leaving things out I shouldn’t.

I still rely on pen and paper, too, and I’d estimate that only 30% of my classmates use laptops in the classroom. If I ever did bring a computer to class, I (like XCNuse) would probably go for the Eee PC or something similar.

I use a tablet pc to write all my notes down in lectures. It is exactly like using pen and paper. The advantage is that I have all my notes in one place and with me at all times.
I use onenote 2007 and gobinder software. Since switching to a tablet pc about a year ago I have found that I am much more productive in my work.The good thing is that all my notes are searchable too, much easier than wading through a pile of paper to look for something. The only thing that I would recommend to anyone thinking of going down this route is to back up your work on a regular basis :)

If you have a tablet pc, taking notes is very easy and also very well organized. You can type your notes and handwrite some notes, and then include them all in the same place with OneNote. This is a very useful tool if you like to use a laptop, but feel its a pain to also have to use pen and paper. All you have to do is turn the laptop screen around.

I use a laptop and PerfectNotes to take notes. It records everything I hear. If I miss anything, I just go back later and listen to whatever was confusing or I missed. It’s all linked together so I can quickly find what I missed. It’s actually freed me up during class. I don’t have to worry about my notes as much and I can focus instead on participating.