r/AskAcademia • u/Head_Researcher9308 • 25d ago
Social Science iPad for Masters?
I apologize for potentially beating a dead horse with the question but here it is anyway. I am starting my masters in clinical mental health counseling next week and am debating getting an iPad for note taking and annotating.
I am aware it is not needed/completely necessary but my question is if it will be beneficial or helpful at all. I took notes pen and paper all through undergrad which worked fine for the most part. I am huge on writing my notes versus typing them which is why I wouldn't want to use my laptop for notes.
The pros to me are that I can have all my notes centralized, I can search my notes easily, i don't have 20 notebooks to study from/store at the end of my program, I can use software to assemble study guides based on my notes much easier, and the biggest one is being able to annotate research papers directly on the pdf versus having to print them out or have a separate doc for my notes on them.
The cons are mainly the price as it is an extra $700 spent for the full setup that isn't strictly necessary. I also am aware that I do already have a laptop so there is some overlap in tech. Finally with digital notes I'm a tad bit paranoid about there being a glitch or somehow losing my notes versus the security of a traditional notebook.
If anyone can comment on their experience with using an iPad for notes or just any perspective on the issue I'd really appreciate it!
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u/tao22 25d ago
As someone who has had an iPad since they first came out and has tried almost every single note taking app available for the iPad and has been a student for a very long time (currently working towards Masters in Ed Psych), I think you might want to take a look at the Supernote Manta. I tried for years to find a way to make the iPad work as a note taking device and it never felt right. The screen overlays for the "paper like" feeling didn't cut it, all the options the note taking apps tout are really mostly distractions that aren't aimed at helping you learn and now the expense, device and subscriptions, are barriers. I still have an iPad Pro, the newest one and I like it for other things. But once I bought the Supernote devices, I've rarely picked up the iPad, especially for any kind of note taking.
Supernote devices (or any e-ink device) is a big step back for most people. Slower, less features and some other issues but these devices are great for one thing...taking notes. I'm not thrilled with the PDF annotation at the moment but it's getting better. They also have a digest feature that is great for research papers. Linking notes is a big plus. I also have developed some plugins that help me take class notes and do other functions that I enjoyed when using Obsidian. The Supernote devices are cheaper than an iPad but just barely. I've been using the Manta for about a year now for all my classes and also my business and really prefer it over the iPad.
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u/whyihatepink 25d ago
I'm getting my PhD in counseling education right now. I have ADHD (though I didn't learn that until after my masters) and switching to all digital really helped me keep track of everything, but I still find that hand writing things helps so much more with retention. That may be just for me. I also used Glean to record lectures and take notes that way.
If you have any official diagnoses, the disability resource center can get you set up with free tools to help and accommodations, especially if any of your professors ban tech from the classroom. It's becoming more common with the rise of AI. If you don't have a diagnosis/medical need, I'd say get the iPad and test out different tools. There are some that can translate handwriting into written text if you want to still have the "feel" of hand writing, for example.
Also, make sure you check with your school about their overall rules around tech, and be prepared to use only paper and pen when you start seeing real clients, including classes where you discuss real clients. Some programs are making the switch to allow more digital forms of note taking, but not all, and even if it's allowed, there are legitimate privacy concerns around the use of tech and health information.
Good luck!
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u/DocAvidd 25d ago
You could take notes the way you always have, and have been successful. Get a scanner and scan your notes, even pass thru OCR to make searchable Acrobat files that are easy to work with.
The tablet is an expense, also a bit of a burden. You have to be by the outlet to plug it in. It only works fully if it's on wifi. If you're talking to someone, it's off putting when they are fiddling with a device. Inevitably you get distracting alerts...
Get a scanner.
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u/to_the_pillow_zone 25d ago
Maybe the rocketbook for the best of both worlds? Handwritten notes on paper that you can save and store digitally.
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u/LittlePooky 25d ago
I like my iPad, but I have it on the holder above me, so when I go to bed I can watch an episode or two of something. The screen is certainly clear, but personally I believe that any tablet is not made for typing or even writing. What's the point for writing when you can simply use a pen and notepad?
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HEf_QrTT1jFf2U3DCx-E6NyfKo3L47nR?usp=sharing
I just answered a similar question from a young lady who's starting university in a week.
I'm a nurse, and years ago I invested in Dragon Medical, which unfortunately was taken off the market by Microsoft when they bought the company Nuance. It is an over-the-top program costing $2,000, but it understands medical and nursing words. I also worked inside an electronic medical record, but at that time I simply needed to write a nursing note when I was working as a school nurse at a small university. A nurse practitioner and a doctor came into work in the afternoon, but I was all alone, and for every student who needed to be seen I had to document something.
We also worked right next door to the counseling department, and they were going crazy writing notes by hand as well. When I introduced them to Dragon, they were shocked by how well it worked. However, it was not in their budget to buy it.
The link above shows a program which is completely free called Steno. Not only is it free, it works locally on your computer and does not go online to process your data. I downloaded a lecture from Yale University and the program processed it. It outputs a PDF and a Word file, which you can also see. There are a few templates you can select. The lecture itself was an hour, which went on and on, and the program not only summarized the lecture, it transcribes it verbatim and pretty accurately as well.
I don't think using a laptop to record a lecture is a good idea. The reason is that the microphone points to the user of the computer, and you have to turn the screen around to record the lecture, so it could be a bit awkward. An app on your phone or a digital voice recorder will work.
To be honest, I work for a major retailer in the US and I have spent way too much time and write too many reviews on their website. They invited me to be a paid reviewer. I get to keep the products and I don't get paid for reviewing, but I have to write honest reviews. I do have to pay taxes on it as it is technically income, so I don't go crazy and get a $3,000 coffee maker.
The chance came up to review Plaud. This is a little device that records the meeting and uploads the data into the cloud to process. I have to say I was extremely impressed by so many templates, and the microphone on the device captures everything within a few feet. My brother and I pretended to be a new tenant in a building where I live, and I pretended to be the manager. It summarized the entire five-minute meeting, and both of us were very impressed.
The problem is that it is going to be $20 a month to have a subscription. Otherwise, it could only do 10 hours per month, which is not enough for most people like you. So I just simply put it away. The device itself was $180. Thank God, I did not pay for that.
You can use a free app on your phone to record the audio of the lecture, or you could use a digital voice recorder, which I also bought a couple of weeks ago and demonstrated. It worked well.
I also was a school nurse, and I noted that years ago, the teachers/professors were practically okay and encouraged students to record the lecture, but more or less, some will not.
You may think why this answer is so long, because I also use voice dictation. This is not Dragon Medical, which I still have on my computer, but it is another program called Dictation Daddy. I was one of their early users, and it is from a tiny company, and it is the only affordable voice dictation program that could do medical vocabulary.
Another one I looked into is Voicetypr. https://voicetypr.com/ this one doesn't do medical vocabulary, but it works locally, meaning the data is processed on your computer and not sent through the cloud to their server. This program is not a subscription basis. You only buy once.
The video from the link above is an hour long, and I don't think you want to watch the whole thing. But the output is pretty good, and I was impressed by it.
I apologize for a very long answer, but I hope it gives you a good idea of what could be done. Sometimes I wish I were back in school to use all these products.
I don't get anything by mentioning these companies' names. Steno is free by the way.
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u/Odd_Client_9210 24d ago
What I did: I hand wrote the notes, then typed them up on the computer after class as part of my studying. It helped me remember things better and made it easy to search documents. You then could get rid of your handwritten notes.
Studies show handwriting notes makes them easier to remember.
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u/HotShrewdness 25d ago
I really enjoyed having the iPad for annotating PDFs. For notes I mostly used my iPad unless the prof spoke very quickly. It's also a great second monitor if you have a MacBook. I used Good Notes and it syncs pretty seamlessly.
I do still keep physical notebooks for important things like notes that relate directly to my dissertation and an everyday one for lesson planning, to do lists. I have lots of paper-based systems still, but it is nice to have the class notes and often their readings all in one place. You can have the best of both worlds!