Using an iPad instead of a laptop for college

ChickenBear

Does any one have any advice on wether this would be a good idea or not?
If I was going for it id be getting the iPad Pro and keyboard. You can use it to take notes and for my course there are no laptop specifics of specific programmes you have to run.
Although everywhere online has pretty much said it would be fine I just wanted to see if anyone is actually using this device or similar.
Thanks

Tom Dunne

Are you clear in your mind why you would use an iPad or laptop over good old pen and paper for note taking?

There is a substantial body of academic research that strongly suggests laptops/tablets are not only detrimental to the student taking notes, but also those around the student in the classroom/lecture hall.

I can provide you with the details of some research papers if you would like.

Miaireland

I use my iPad and a keyboard for pretty much everything although I do go back to the laptop for things like letters (old fashioned I know) essays and long reports. I have never come across a very good keyboard for iPads that don't lag at times when you are typing.

I found in college it was much easier to take my notes with pen and paper but did type them up later that evening or the next day while the lecture was fresh in my memory.

RoughSleeper

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Are you clear in your mind why you would use an iPad or laptop over good old pen and paper for note taking?

There is a substantial body of academic research that strongly suggests laptops/tablets are not only detrimental to the student taking notes, but also those around the student in the classroom/lecture hall.

I can provide you with the details of some research papers if you would like.

That's interesting, could you provide the research papers? I'm wondering if it's still detrimental for touch typists who can type with a high words-per-minute.

endacl

You can't doodle on a keyboard. Doodling is an essential part of note taking.

Tom Dunne

RoughSleeper wrote: »

That's interesting, could you provide the research papers? I'm wondering if it's still detrimental for touch typists who can type with a high words-per-minute.

I can't actually provide the papers for copyright reasons, but I can list a few of them:

Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking, Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer, Psychological Science 2014 25: 1159, DOI: 10.1177/0956797614524581

Drawn to distraction: A qualitative study of off-task use of educational technology, Jesper Aagaard, Computers & Education 87 (2015) 90-97

Unregulated use of laptops over time in large lecture classes, Eric D. Ragan, Samuel R. Jennings, John D. Massey , Peter E. Doolittle, Computers & Education 78 (2014) 78-86

Teaching, learning and media use in today’s lectures, Vera Gehlen-Baum , Armin Weinberger, Computers in Human Behavior 37 (2014) 171–182

Midkemia

I would say it depends on the lecture. I have some lecturers that leave gaps in their slides and rather then taking them down and filling them in later, I can fill them in during the lecture saving me time to do something else, which definitely helps me.

The Ipad is going to have a smaller screen, and will be more awkward to type on while being more expensive then a lot of laptops, I'm not seeing any advantages here other then it being better for a sneaky peek at facebook :pac:

matthew1998

You could get a chrome book if its just for note taking. Cheaper. Wayy Cheaper

And old fashioned note talking is grand...If you have nice hand writing

ToxicPaddy

Hey OP,

I know a few people who use iPads in class mostly for writing on as they can then save their notes direct to an online drive and no risk of them losing them.

Personally I record all my classes on my phone so I can listen back to them later, use a note pad for writing notes n stuff and the laptop is open beside me with the lecturers slides (if available) so I don't miss too much if they are flicking through slides quickly.

I do agree with Tom Dunne though as laptops do distract you from class where as writing something down tends to stick in your head longer. When writing you tend to paraphrase as you go so have to think about it, you can draw out quick diagrams, arrows between blocks of text that are linked, make additional foot notes and all the type of notes and scribbles that would be difficult to do on a tablet.

If you are going to spend the money on an iPad pro, remember that you will still need something that you can write long assignments on, add in diagrams and charts and do all the formatting you need before submission. I wouldn't be relying on getting to a college PC to do all this as half the college will be trying to do the same.

If you have a PC or laptop already at home then an iPad might be perfect due to the light weight non bulky structure and long battery life but they wont be a good enough substitute for a PC or laptop when doing assignments.

Noodleworm

It can present issues. How easy will it be for you to submit assignments in the right formats, might your classmates want to use USBs to share project work?

You could be really limiting yourself. Being comfortable with a normal laptop/desktop is a pretty essential skill, and fewer and fewer young people seem to be able to do this.

If you have the money go for a macbook air instead. Nice and light, but still a real computer.