A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014) • Hacker News Board

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#111

Post by pbhjpbhj » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:14 AM UTC

diffeomorphism wrote: post #60

acconrad wrote: post #3

What if I want to take notes but not contribute to deforestation and issues with the environmental impact of using paper in 2019?

Where are you buying your paper? For example European paper is made from local wood, (re)planted in a sustainable way; also recyling. If you rely on extra cheap paper made from Brazilian wood that might be an argument. The stronger argument is that paper production is fairly energy and water-intensive. That said, I would be highly skeptical that an ipad + pencil is more eco-friendly to produce than however much paper…

>highly skeptical that an ipad + pencil [...] //

The people using paper probably also have the iPad, so it's probably whether the pencil used is more eco-friendly than the extra disposable plastic pens (which it might be)? Then you'd need to look at product lifetime, which is probably more limited by time-passed for Apple users and products than by actual hours of use??

I think these things are always more complex to analyse than it first appears.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#112

Post by thom » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:18 AM UTC

sjogress wrote: post #102

kendallpark wrote: post #27

My current (digital) handwritten note setup: - iPad Pro with (Gen 1 :sadface:) Apple Pencil. - Screen protector that gives a significant amount of friction to the screen so that it feels closer to paper. [1] - Goodnotes 5 or Notability (I use both--depends on the circumstances). [2] - A rule: iPad is solely a reading/studying/note-taking device. No keyboard, no social media apps. - Bonus: Twelve South BookBook case.…

Personally, I'm far too undisciplined to enforce such rules on a tablet, so I got a Remarkable instead. Essentially an e-ink reader with handwriting capabilities.

This is an interesting device, but watching the video the lag seems very unsatisfying - is that an issue in general use?

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#113

Post by Aromasin » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:25 AM UTC

grecht wrote: post #101

Aromasin wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine is a similar setup, except with Windows architecture. - Surface Go using stylus. - OneNote for note taking - ColdTurkey app (completely locks you out of blacklisted apps for a set amount of time [I've tried to crack it - I couldn't])

A feature I missed in OneNote: Handwriting recognition. Both GoodNotes and Notability are able to search your writing, provided it’s somewhat legible.

I'm definitely open for suggestions on the note taking software front. OneNote is sometimes pain to use, but Microsoft have designed it to work relatively seamlessly with the Surface line so it's what I defaulted to. I'll give those a try.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#114

Post by C1sc0cat » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:27 AM UTC

linker3000 wrote: post #36

I'm 53 and work in IT for a 'funky' learning/media company, ranking among the seniors in both age and position. I have a customised Cornell Notes* Word doc template, and I run off batches of 5-10 sheets to take to meetings and training sessions. My colleagues typically turn up with their tablets, surfaces, laptops, phones and 'multitask', however a few have started to adopt my method - it's been particularly useful f…

I would be even more impressed if you then circulated proper meeting minutes, with all the Action points properly recorded, document named and version controlled etc

I think a lot of people whose roles are client facing would benefit from this even though 90% of them would have no idea of what properly run meetings look like.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#115

Post by barney54 » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:35 AM UTC

What worked best for me in school was longhand notes and then nightly typing the notes up. (Though I seldom revised the notes the same night or week.) For finals I would spend a lot of time revising my notes and comparing notes with my friends. I found that my friends who had taken notes on their laptops had more notes, but it was exceedingly rare I actually missed anything important.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#116

Post by seventhtiger » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:36 AM UTC

I tended to be in the top of the classes I was in and as far as I've seen my method was somewhat different.

I also only take notes on paper, but more importantly, I throw all my notes out as soon as I finish writing them.

For me studying is the act of writing the notes. The purpose of notes was never to read them later. That's why writing on paper is important to me. It's not about the qualities and convenience of the storage medium. It's about the experience of writing itself that makes me dislike digital notes.

When it's time for exams I go back to the primary source, whether it's a text book, lectures, or handouts, and I write a new set of notes. I throw those out when I'm done also.

You might think it's inefficient, which it is only in terms of ink and paper. In terms of time and effort, at least for me personally, the act of putting pen on sheet is 10x as effective as reading in building comprehension and retention. From anecdotal observation, I get done in a few hours of taking new notes what my classmates do in days of binge reading.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#117

Post by linker3000 » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:37 AM UTC

C1sc0cat wrote: post #114

linker3000 wrote: post #36

I'm 53 and work in IT for a 'funky' learning/media company, ranking among the seniors in both age and position. I have a customised Cornell Notes* Word doc template, and I run off batches of 5-10 sheets to take to meetings and training sessions. My colleagues typically turn up with their tablets, surfaces, laptops, phones and 'multitask', however a few have started to adopt my method - it's been particularly useful f…

I would be even more impressed if you then circulated proper meeting minutes, with all the Action points properly recorded, document named and version controlled etc I think a lot of people whose roles are client facing would benefit from this even though 90% of them would have no idea of what properly run meetings look like.

Who said that doesn't happen :-).

I'm not always hosting/minuting the meeting so it'll be done by whoever is.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#118

Post by barking » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:38 AM UTC

C1sc0cat wrote: post #114

linker3000 wrote: post #36

I'm 53 and work in IT for a 'funky' learning/media company, ranking among the seniors in both age and position. I have a customised Cornell Notes* Word doc template, and I run off batches of 5-10 sheets to take to meetings and training sessions. My colleagues typically turn up with their tablets, surfaces, laptops, phones and 'multitask', however a few have started to adopt my method - it's been particularly useful f…

I would be even more impressed if you then circulated proper meeting minutes, with all the Action points properly recorded, document named and version controlled etc I think a lot of people whose roles are client facing would benefit from this even though 90% of them would have no idea of what properly run meetings look like.

Capturing into a shared Onenote book using a phone camera would be a simple task and could be a good repository for notes of this type. The notes would be automatically dated and with OCR, searchable.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#119

Post by Symbiote » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:39 AM UTC

danielhunt wrote: post #92

johnchristopher wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Love the Cornell notes. Would you share your template ?

I’d like to see this too if you’re willing/happy to share

There are plenty of templates online, for example http://paper-prints.com/sheet/cornell_notes_A4 and (customizable) https://incompetech.com/graphpaper/cornelllined/

Searching also led to a few suppliers of pre-printed notebooks or paper with a similar grid.

Re: A Learning Secret: Don't Take Notes with a Laptop (2014)

#120

Post by linker3000 » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:41 AM UTC

2rsf wrote: post #80

linker3000 wrote: post #36

I'm 53 and work in IT for a 'funky' learning/media company, ranking among the seniors in both age and position. I have a customised Cornell Notes* Word doc template, and I run off batches of 5-10 sheets to take to meetings and training sessions. My colleagues typically turn up with their tablets, surfaces, laptops, phones and 'multitask', however a few have started to adopt my method - it's been particularly useful f…

> It's also very easy to drill down through Quarterly reviews and link chains of historic comments 'on the fly' I have never heard about Cornell Notes, it seems like the missing piece I was looking for to convince myself to move back to pen and paper since I too feel that handwriting makes you remember and understand better. But there are two things I am missing over OneNote - Search capabilities, how do you drill do…

The left column is the notes/subject/item/named person index. If a 3 hr meeting has 12 pages (double sided), I can probably pick up the notes and check all columns in about 10 seconds.

If a URL is mentioned, it's likely either because someone knows it (make a note to ask them for it), it's in their notes (ask for them), or it's been put on a whiteboard (take a photo if needed). Ditto for code, if it's that kind of meeting (and, yes, I do have those kinds of meetings).