I bet law Prof. June Entman wasn't expecting the world-wide furor over saying that her students couldn't use their laptops to take notes in her class.? This is her rational:
"My main concern was they were focusing on trying to transcribe every word that was I saying, rather than thinking and analyzing," Entman said Monday. "The computers interfere with making eye contact. You've got this picket fence between you and the students."
While I can see her point she is forgetting one of the primary things about teaching and learning.? The same tools and techniques don't work for everyone.
Writing on C|Net's blog Jennifer Guevin says:
Should students be allowed to take notes in whatever form they find most useful to them? We're now faced with a generation of college and graduate students who have been raised with computers playing an integral role in their academic lives. Is it fair to take the devices away and force those students to use a method of note-taking that some of them have potentially never used?
Myself I took notes with pen and paper (sometimes even coloured pencils in science classes), but if I were going back to school would I use my laptop?? Most likely.? I'd try it for sure.? Not to go too heavy on the product plug, but I'd certainly take notes with MindManager.? It works for me, in meetings I've taken amazingly (to me) detailed and understandable notes.? I include contacts, web links, etc.? In fact I've realized that MindManager is helping me express my ideas better and better.? Here's an example.? I'm working with one of our Qumana partners (Calabash Music), on some cool blog-related initiatives.? I mapped out my ideas in MindManager and sent them around.? I got a great response.? Great work, great detail, I can see the project coming together.? If I had tried to do this in Word … I'd still be working on it.
So note taking in class … it really comes down to what's best for the student not the teacher (remember, oh teaching faculty, the students are paying your salary).? If a person like me can get more out of your class using a computer, then isn't that better for the whole class?
Tris Hussey is a writer, teacher, blogger, and speaker on all facets of Internet life, WordPress, and social media. He is the author of Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Blogging Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro and Using WordPress.
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My main concern was they were focusing on trying to transcribe every word that was I saying, rather than thinking and analyzing,
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really? If I were the professor I'd be more concerned that my students would be surfing the web and chatting on MSN….
I second the recommendation for using Mind Manager for note taking… any mind map tool (including pencil & paper). My notetaking improved enormously once I learned about mind maps
I agree about MSN and e-mail. Personally I turn them off or set to Busy/Do not disturb in a meeting.
While MindManger is worth every penny (and I think they have student discounts not to mention templates for students), Freemind is supposed to be pretty good. But MindManager syncs in so smoothly with Word, PDF export, Excel, etc … that I'd seriously look into it.