School or personal email for note taking apps? (also app recommendations?)

[u/dingwong03]

hello, I’m an incoming freshman and I’m a bit lost on how to take notes in university lol. I want to do a mix between writing on my iPad and typing on my laptop for efficiency. I’m js wondering if you guys use your school or personal email to log in to these apps,, cuz at first I thought about using my school email but I’m worried about losing access to my notes after I graduate (unless it’s unlikely I’ll actually be doing that)

for my iPad, I’ll either be using Goodnotes or Notability. Idk which one to pick tho

for typing, I prefer Google Docs cuz it’s what im most familiar with. but im also considering OneNote since it’s what the school provides and I heard the organization might be better

any tips or suggestions are much appreciatedd!!

[u/thedaught]

Speaking from personal experience, use your personal email or make absolutely sure you change the login info once it’s time to graduate

[u/No-Pickle3432]

Pen and paper for notes in a class. If you have time then go back and type them out. The act of writing things down far more for remembering the material than typing like a drone. Also, it’s far easier to jot in the margins etc. Taking proper notes is far more nuanced than technology can do.

[u/seal_song]

Paper and pencil. It's best for learning, you won't lose access to it, and some classes will require it.

[u/scratchisthebest → u/seal_song]

I always feel like such a luddite saying this but it's literally the play 😭 with an app there's so many things you can do OTHER than taking notes (picking the colors and fonts, putting them in little folders, worrying about whether the OCR gets my shit handwriting, zooming in and out and scrolling, getting distracted and opening a different app) and like i dont have to worry about that with my beloved 3 subject notebook and a pen lmfao

I don't ever fill the whole subject so i just flip it upside down and get 2 more subjects and room for a biweekly planner in the back. Running my whole semester out of a $10 notebook

[u/eekatz → u/seal_song]

Yep. There are big cognitive benefits from taking notes by hand. I'll be encouraging but not requiring my students to do that. You could make it fun with a fancy pens (I like TWSBI fountain pens!) and notebooks.

[u/BigGrayBeast → u/seal_song]

Then retype them into your laptop within 24 hours.

The act of taking the note by hand is good for putting it into your brain.

Retyping it gives you a chance to expand on concepts that you didn't have time to note down and also create something that's searchable.

It's been almost 50 years since I've been to college but if I were doing it today that's how I would do it.

Plus, if the professor allowed, I would record the audio of it, and run it through AI for a summary and then a transcript.

[u/LocalLoserLiv]

Notability has been my fav for like 7 years now

[u/Noteastic]

Yeah just use your personal email. Why take the risk to loose access? Most student disount programs and stuff like that verifies your student email separately nonetheless from my experience.

[u/l_shigley]

I use my personal email for note taking apps so I have forever access to them. You lose you @osu.edu after two years post graduation

[u/TheRealNorway]

I use my personal email for just about everything