notes & digital course materials

[ladylearner]

For those of you who take online classes with digital course materials like PDFs and what not, do you tend to print them out? Or just keep them digital and read on a tablet or other device? Does anyone annotate their digital files when taking notes?

I'm revamping the way I handle my course materials (there are oh so many) and would love to hear how you all organize them, as well as how you take notes, particularly for online classes.

Thanks, everyone

[OakLakeNC]

Save the files- no convenient way to print stuff out. I have printed out a few simple things at work. A few things are ok, but if I start printing a lot someone would probably say something.

[dfrecore]

I can't imagine printing it all out, it would be insanity. Way too many pages of stuff to print out for my liking.

On my desktop, I keep separate folders for each of my courses, and even separate folders within a course if need be. I try to label things REALLY clearly, and even number them if that makes things easier. For instance if I have notes for each chapter, I will label them Ch.01-Notes, Ch.02-Notes...Ch.18-Notes or something like that. To keep everything in order. I also look at stuff after a while and determine if I need to rename everything to make it simpler.

I do print out different items later if I want to bring them to study or something while at a kid's soccer game. My phone is way to small for my old eyes to try to read off of it much. But it would be a couple of pages, not 10+ or anything. So I try not to print unless I know I'm actually going to be looking at something right then. I wouldn't print "just in case" I might want to look at it later.

And, I actually just purchase textbooks sometimes (if they're used and cheap). I have the text for the Strategic Management TECEP downstairs right next to where my kid does her schoolwork, so I can just sit down there with her and we work on school at the same time. I think it was $4. I have the Microecon textbook that SL uses for that course as well, both digital from them, and hardcopy for me to use when I'm not in front of my computer. Again, it was less than $5. And it's the exact same book.

[cookderosa]

For those of you who take online classes with digital course materials like PDFs and what not, do you tend to print them out? Or just keep them digital and read on a tablet or other device? Does anyone annotate their digital files when taking notes?

I'm revamping the way I handle my course materials (there are oh so many) and would love to hear how you all organize them, as well as how you take notes, particularly for online classes.

Thanks, everyone

I'm old - so every single online class I took I printed out all the course content like powerpoints, handouts, etc. I also bought paper textbooks. Now, my sons prefer the ebooks (though I use the tip I learned here and buy both) but there is a great way to search using the Ctrl + F button - love that - so, I like a blend of old with the new. (I wrote ALL my notes long hand in a notebook)

[Mamasaphire]

I like to print things out. I almost always printed out every single Study flashcards. That might show my age too, lol.

I do also prefer ebooks for things like SL courses, but use paper books for TECEPs and in-seat classes. I printed out every unit & assignment for the Capstone, as well as rough drafts and my final paper.

So, similar to others in that I tend to use a blend of methods.

[azt579]

I just discovered a note taking application called EverNote. You can access your notes using the app online from any computer/phone/tablet. Ive been organizing my notes by chaper within the app, and you can attach the digital course material or pdf to the notes...you can also include a link if need be. I really like it.

Just figured out that I can create separate "notebooks" within my notes. It allows you to drag specific notes into these "notebooks" that you can re-title to whatever you'd like. I'm going to title my notebooks by course name. This will allow me to futher organize my course notes.

[ladylearner]

I just discovered a note taking application called EverNote. You can access your notes using the app online from any computer/phone/tablet. Ive been organizing my notes by chaper within the app, and you can attach the digital course material or pdf to the notes...you can also include a link if need be. I really like it.

Just figured out that I can create separate "notebooks" within my notes. It allows you to drag specific notes into these "notebooks" that you can re-title to whatever you'd like. I'm going to title my notebooks by course name. This will allow me to futher organize my course notes.

I do love Evernote. I had a premium subscription but decided to cancel this year since I already use Google Drive. Currently, I do a combination of writing things out, typing, and annotating the course materials/PDFs. I scan the handwritten notes at work and save them to the appropriate Google Drive folder, much like I would with Evernote. I think Evernote is better for notetaking and Drive is better for archiving and organizing but since I'm already using Google for everything else, I decided to stick with it. When we do group work, I use Google Docs to collaborate.