Going Back to School Paperless
Talking about my recent jump on a paperless school journey!
University just started and, this semester, I decided to do something differently.
I decided to say goodbye to handwritten notes.
My experience
I have been using my digital setup for one week now.
Honestly, I was hesitant about doing the jump. It is only after seeing one of my friends doing it that I have decided to switch.
That and a video that I saw on YouTube about a med student that documents how he takes notes this way.
I have been adapting quite rapidly and I have used this method in a couple of classes as of now.
I feel like it is easier to follow classes because I can annotate directly on the lecture notes whilst keeping the freedom of a pen.
Honestly, this entire thing is so clean!
The setup
Here is the Hardware that I am using: an iPad 6th generation paired with an Apple Pencil.
As for the Software, I am mainly using the two apps: Notability and Google Calendar.
iPad
I have been using an iPad since 2013. My very first one was called the Ipad Air which is essentially what the new iPad Air is but with older technology.
Truth be told, when I switched tablets for the newer gen, I couldn’t tell the difference aside from the addition of the finger scanner.
I have been using an iPad pretty much every single day for the past 7 years.
It is so convenient for watching videos on YouTube, reading books, listening to some music, surfing on the internet, etc. I even use it to learn new pieces on the piano.
I bought this particular iPad for $429 CAD.
Apple Pencil
The Apple Pencil is essentially a pen to use with your tablet. There are a lot of convenient features included to ensure an enjoyable experience.
I bought my Apple Pencil for $129 CAD.
Notability
This is a note-taking application that can be found on the Apple Store for $11.99 CAD.
There are a lot of tools to help with the annotation.
You can use different colors, you can highlight stuff, you can add some text, you can transform your notes in text…
My favorite one is by far the scissors one.
With a few taps, you can copy/cut and paste whatever you want. It can be areas of a PDF, some of your notes, etc.
Granted it is the very first and only app that I’ve used for note-taking because it only has been a week. But I feel like this is more than what I need to accomplish what I want.
You can separate your school subjects in different categories, you can download pdf, the possibilities are just endless really.
Google Calendar
Having a schedule is incredibly important to me. I have been using an agenda pretty much all of my school life.
This is the digital form of my agenda. No more paper is needed.
It is a free app and you can access it from your computer.
When school started, I pretty much copy-pasted my whole school schedule in there as well as my work shifts.
Would I do it again?
The answer is really simple… yes!
I have always struggled with taking clear notes and with this, I can move around the stuff that I write which makes it quick and simple to make everything fall into place.
I wish I would’ve done this earlier. It would’ve saved me so much time and energy.
The real question is… will you go paperless now?…
