Annotating slides on a laptop

[Stick]

Last year I predominantly took all my notes by hand because I felt university itself was enough of a change from Year 12 and I didn't want to make things more difficult for myself by having to adjust to an extremely different study mode. In the end my results were all good, but for the sake of efficiency I'd like to try using my laptop more this year. I know that research suggests handwriting notes helps the information stick better in your mind, but I like to chunk relevant pieces of information and diagrams together, which is obviously far easier to do on a computer. I'd also like to cut down the amount of time I spend studying (well, at least a little bit anyway) so that I can be a bit more balanced this year. I guess I know how to actually compile summaries electronically (lol, just typing them up in a document) but I'm not really sure about annotating the slides during a lecture. To me, drawing up text boxes all the time seems a bit finicky, so I was wondering if there are any better ways of going about it out there.

I should probably also mention that I have a Mac, so any suggestions will need to be compatible. Thanks.

[Russ]

People mess around with fancy note taking methods but I just use the 'add text' feature in the basic Adobe Acrobat Reader. Set the colour to red and you can read it over the top of the slide. It's not pretty but it doesn't need to be.

[Fyrefly]

Uh... I used One Note. It's part of the Microsoft Office package... Not sure if compatible with Mac, sorry.

[cameronp]

I'm old-fashioned and like taking notes by hand. Doing anything on a laptop sounds like more pain than it's worth, especially if you ever have to sketch diagrams that a lecturer draws on a blackboard.

The only alternative note-taking scheme that seems in any way appealing is those convertible laptop-tablets running Microsoft OneNote. I'd imagine an iPad with a stylus would also be good if you swing in the Apple direction, though I don't think I've seen anyone using one in a lecture.

[Shenz0r]

Oh...Mac? Obligatory PC > Mac feels

To all non-Mac users: if you have any access to a Windows laptop, get Nitro Pro 9. Seriously, best pdf reader out there.

Not only does it have basic functions like adding text/highlighting/drawingshapes etc, but you can also edit the notes in the slides, add images to the slides, resize images, colour all the text, add new slides anywhere in the pdf...list goes on. An extremely worthwhile program, I used it for Anatomy and did not have to rely on anything apart from my annotated slides.

Otherwise, use Adobe Reader and just add text (even though it's very basic, still does the job).

[mahler004]

Uh... I used One Note. It's part of the Microsoft Office package... Not sure if compatible with Mac, sorry.

I'm pretty sure OneNote is avalable on Mac now, for free. OP could also try Notability. I love the iPad app (half the reason I passed uni,) and mainly use the desktop app to read my iPad notes, but it's a decent enough annotator in it's own right.

The only alternative note-taking scheme that seems in any way appealing is those convertible laptop-tablets running Microsoft OneNote. I'd imagine an iPad with a stylus would also be good if you swing in the Apple direction, though I don't think I've seen anyone using one in a lecture.

I do this regularly. Quite a few of my friends/classmates do too. Guess it depends on your classes.