When it comes to school, note-taking is super important. Keeping organized and legible notes not only helps you score well on homework, but it also allows you to study in a more efficient way, allowing you to score well on tests! I’m the type of person who has a very organized notebook. I date each and every lecture and even sometimes color code my notes to help me study it in the future! This semester I switched over from the typical pen and paper world to the iPad world. The transition from pen and paper to touchscreen and stylus was a hard one to get used to, so here are some differences I noticed if you’re interested in switching to an iPad!
Player 1: The Notebook
Ah, yes, the old pen and paper. This is pretty much how every student starts off taking notes in lectures. The pen and paper route is always a good route, especially if you consider yourself a “visual learner.” For me, I always took pride in my handwritten notes. I tried to organize them and make them as visually pleasing as I possibly could. This was really to help me memorize and study the material later on. One of the biggest pros of taking notes with a pen and paper is that you tend to remember it more. When you write it down, you’re looking at the material and it’s syncing into your brain. It’s also way easier to find notes if you write them down with a pen and paper. If you make sure to copy down the date at the beginning of each lecture, all you have to do is flip to the date! Some teachers require notebooks in their classes, making the whole iPad thing, not a possibility. If you really like the way of learning via paper and pen, I’d say stick to it! If not, let’s take a look at player two.
Player 2: The iPad
Now for the other player in this battle: the iPad. I purchased my iPad on sale after Christmas because I always wanted to make the switch to digital note-taking. To be honest, I kept watching those “How I Take Notes on My iPad in College” videos on YouTube and was always so satisfied at how the notes looked. People were able to get more creative with their note-taking, decorating it to really make it pop (and easier to memorize!) I thought about making the switch for about a year before I caved, and let me tell you, I’m so glad I did. It was not an easy adjustment at first. My mom made sure that I bought a bulletproof case and screen protector, making it a little bulkier than I wanted. I also really wanted to purchase the Apple Pen but I was broke from purchasing everything else that I decided to go with a generic stylus from Amazon. I took my iPad to school for the first time and I hated it. I downloaded this really great app for note-taking and it kept crashing and not picking up my stylus. I thought to myself “did I really just waste all this money to hate it?” I then went home, watched those YouTube videos to figure out the best apps to download for college and I gave it another go the next day. That’s when I started to love digital note-taking. You can easily switch between colors to color-code notes, you can erase without having faded pencil lines or white-out and you can draw really in-depth diagrams and structures! I’m now about three months into using my iPad and I’m hooked. I have an app that has a notebook for every class and sometimes I just scroll through my notes randomly because they’re so satisfying to look at. You can upload photos of diagrams from class if you don’t feel like drawing them which is a game changer! I even have a keyboard attachment so that I can bring my iPad out and still get work done on things like Excel and Word without dragging along my whole laptop! It also reduces waste and saves money! Normally when I finish a class, I throw out the notebook (unless it’s a gateway course and I need to know that material for another course). Now, I don’t have to spend any money on notebooks and I don’t have to keep throwing them out!
Personally, for this battle, the iPad is a clear winner. It’s compact and light and saves so much room in your backpack, due to not carrying a notebook for every class. It saves money because you’re not spending as much on school supplies AND it reduces waste because you’re not throwing out old and used school supplies! Now, the price of an iPad may not be in everyone’s budget but there are many tablets on the market that are way cheaper and use the same apps! If you’ve ever thought about switching over to digital note taking I highly recommend it! It may take some time to get used to but it’s 100 percent worth it in the end and makes studying a whole lot easier! Thanks for reading and I hope you are all staying safe out there!