Duraweld: Smart Presentation

Taking Notes With Virtual Pen And Paper

With the inventions of the past decade such as the smart phone, the tablet (such as an iPad) and the eReader, the use for pen and paper could be seen as dwindling. The technological age means that everyone has everything they could ever need at their fingertips, including the ability to write down information quickly and neatly.

Taking notes in a classroom or lecture was once a laborious effort of both writing legibly and furiously keeping up with what the teacher is saying—until recently. If the class allows, using a laptop or a tablet can make note-taking a quick and simple thing to do. It is a safe bet that in many modern-day classrooms, there will be more people with smart phones on their person than pen and paper, and taking notes on them is one of the multitude of applications they offer.

With the increasing use of technology such as computers, many people across the UK are now very familiar with what is known as a ‘QWERTY’ keyboard and the placement of the letters. This increased familiarity can lead to ‘touch-typing’, meaning people can type without looking at their hands. His makes note-taking a much easier task than ever before, as students could be looking at the lecturer whilst silently tapping and recording vital notes.

However, taking physical notes on pen and paper does have its advantages. For example, if something goes wrong on a smart phone, tablet or laptop and the student hasn’t saved their work, there is a possibility it could be lost for good. With pen and paper notes, a physical copy can be kept in a plastic folder or ring binder, meaning no information is lost unless the notebook is lost. Also, using plastic document wallets mean that the work isn’t creased.

When writing notes on a laptop, it can be beneficial to bring some form of memory storing device such as a USB stick or external hard drive with you to the note-taking session to ensure losing valuable work doesn’t happen—or if it does, a copy can be obtained from a memory device,

With these new inventions, physical note-taking can be seen as a thing of the past. However, keeping in mind that losing electronic work could be much easier than losing a physical written down copy, using a combination of the two a student could be unstoppable. Writing down notes in lectures or classes is important in gaining a full understanding of the topic at hand, and could even possibly help in an exam!

+Jane Harper

26th June, 2012 at 11:43 am | Blog | No comment