On 4/22/09, Peter Van den Wildenbergh <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi List, > > > Anybody aware of a good FOSS program for taking notes in a (science) class? > > Was thinking to buy a wacam board for all the weird formulas and drawings. > > Need some software that can handle both text and drawings... + organize it > per class/date ... > > > Does this exist? > > > Thx > > > Peter
There may be appropriate software, but from my experience, introducing a computer (even a tablet) into the classroom has produced more negative than positive results. (note: in the following situations, I say "you", but I really am referring to things I've done myself, and have seen others do as well. YMMV, so don't take my opinions as cold-hard facts.) The #1 problem seems to be that for every extra second you spend fussing over getting your drawing done right on the tablet, or getting the notation right in an equation, you've lost one second of attention to the subject at hand. I imagine, with practice, you could be as proficient with the tablet as you are with a pen and paper, but you really need to ask yourself, "is it worth it?" I tried for a few weeks to take notes on a notebook computer, but in the end, it was much better to just stick with my previous method (5 colors of pens, and custom note-taking paper I made with OpenOffice, all shoved into a clipboard [1].) The #2 problem seems to be the additional distractions that laptops/tablets introduce. Email, IM, Facebook, games, etc. all take your attention away from class, and it takes longer to get your focus back than I bet you're willing to admit. Even looking up a subject on Wikipedia (or somewhere else) during class seems like a good idea... until you realize you weren't paying attention to something for 5 minutes... and it takes 15 minutes to catch up on it by yourself later (if you do it at all!) Other problems: - Distracting other classmates (even just your computer's noises) - Classmates distracting you (can you look this up for me?) - Battery dying (or setting up / taking down your PSU) - Weight (heavier than a clipboard, anyway) Anyway... even even if someone had told me this, I probably still would have tried taking notes on the computer... so have fun, and good luck! -Mark C. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Grip-N-Go-Storage-Clipboard-29994/dp/B0006HWZ9G (also available at Staples) _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
