Back from the dead and into the groove

I am sorry about not posting last week. I was taken out by a killer cough and then beaten up by my son also showing a killer cough.

This past two weeks has been great when using the tablet. Not only have I gotten the hang of fully using it in my classes I have also found a groove implementing the paper based materials that I have needed to use for my classes with my tablet.

Overall this week has going well tech wise.

I know that I have more to say but I have tests to study for, hope you are all well.

Talk to you next week.

Paperless is back to paper

I was very pleased with the responses that I got from my last post. I found both comments to be very interesting and as I am thinking about them I keep finding new ways that I can help my own learning process. I have implemented recording my classes to help in adding to my "notes" and how I review the class sessions. But on to current news...

This week has been a challenge for me in the fact that I have lost the use of my tablet. This also means I have lost access to all my notes, hw, and my calc textbook. My power cord had a short and I was unable to charge my computer. This was something that I had not planned on dealing with, but this is defiantly something that needs to be taken into consideration. Not so much by the instructor but more so by a student that wants to go paperless or is paperless.

I was able to access my textbook by uploading it to my Mac and I went to traditional ways of note taking (i.e. paper and pen) but it was a hard transition. I miss the tablet. Last week I was kinda getting to a point of missing paper, and I might start printing out some of my readings just for my specific learning style, but this week had cured me of my paper addiction.

I am finding that while paper is more comfortable for me to use, I am far more engaded within my class when I am using the tablet. I am able to annotate better the notes when they are right on hand. My diagrams are much easier to understand and the habit of just saving things to files rather then having different notebooks has become second nature to me. I also find that when I am reviewing the notes on my own it is nice to be able to change and move things around in an order that allows for better flow when studying.

I will admit that getting fast access to my notes is a bit more difficult using my tablet. When I need to look something up from a perviouse day it is a bit of a pain. I have to remember which file it was in them from there I must wait for it to load (at this point in the class the question is already answered then has moved on) and once the file is open I must find the correct page.

These are all things that I am taking into account when looking at the overall view of this project. I am also taking into account that I myself am a bit bias to paper in the simple fact that it is what I have used my entire life and it is what I am comfortable with. But as I am integrating these new forms of tech I am seeing my learning style grow in areas where is had suffered before.

Third Week?

Yes it is the third week of classes... Yes, I did not post anything last week. Let us just say that it is better that last week is over and this week has indeed started. ( John was sick last week).

But there is some good stuff that I would like to talk about from my paperless journey from within the swing of school. I have come up with some very interesting questions that I would really like your feed back on as far as what you think based on where you are in life.

My biggest question is: Does the implementation of technology in the students hands disengage the student or does it allow them to add new tools that will help them in the long run with the class?

If that was kinda confusing let me going into why I am asking this question. I was able to take notes during class and add annotations such a links for site mentioned in class and diagrams that I could get offline and from there was able to make notes on the diagrams themselves. I was very excited about this and was in the process of showing someone. I finished my show and tell and the first comments was "So that allows you to completely disengage from the class" I really didn't know how to respond... I was actually at a loss for words. I as a student didn't see it as being disengaged at all. I was very excited that I was able to have such a productive class that I would be able to have great notes and sites to go to so that I could see all this great stuff. But after thinking about it I was able to see where this person was coming from. I did have to go online to go to the sites that were being discussed, removing me from the class for a few minutes. But I would very much so like to know what others think about this?


Well for right now I am going to say that that is it. Please let me know what you think I will also be posting comments on twitter and facebook if you would like a day to day update on what is going on. The username for twitter is thechanger42.

Hope to hear from you soon.

My First Day...

So I was able to get through my first day of classes with not issue. I did receive all paper syllabi, but other then that all went well.

I did convince one of my instructors to put her digital notes online so that we could access them if we were not able to get them all down in class which was a win.

Both my physics and math instructors were intrigued by the tablet that I was using. I think they are both wondering just what I plan to do with it. (kinda don't think they read the email that I sent out but no worries)

I am still getting used to only having one surface in front of me rather then five or six like I would have with paper. I am also contemplating if I should take my notes on a continuous document or have files saved by date. But the note taking process has been made much easier using the tablet. I am able to move back and forth between things add annotations and when I go back later I am able to make things smaller and add more content to the notes from class. It is nice. I suppose we will see just how successful it really has been at the end of the semester when I get my grades but I think that just with the first day under my belt that the tools that I have implemented this semester will give me a great edge.

I still need to invest in Adobe Acrobat 9 to my list of tools and actually pay for the SnagIt (I have been using the trial version).

I have not been able to have much interaction with my professors by asking questions and so on but I do already have homework so I am sure that that will come up soon. I know that I can send it to them just fine my only concern is how they will interact with the files that I send them. For instance... if I send a question about my homework showing them my work with an annotated not asking the question will they be able to answer in a way that will "work".

I am a bit worried that some of my instructors may not be on the same level of tech as I have assumed them to be on. Not to say that they don't know how to turn on the computer but that the programs that are common to me may not be common to them. While they are great at using math based programs and writing in a programing language I know how to access other tools that are more helpful in communicating with others via the internet.

I am in a bit of a tech bubble... and what I think everyone knows, not everybody knows. This is my biggest concern right now.

The overall feel from instructors has been positive. I don't think that I will get much of a negative response but I know for sure that I will have to be taking paper quizzes in my classes. :(

I don't really know how paperless I can go, other then turning in HW digitally and taking notes digitally, if my instructors are not also paperless. The limitations of a student.

As for my digital Calc book. There are still some frustrations going on but as they come I find solutions. I think that it is just a matter of getting used to it. The book seems to be working well. I preloaded the book before class so that I wouldn't have any issue and I think that that will be the best root as far as class prep. I will also need to work out the little kinks (i.e. viewing the font, finding the correct way to navigate through the book, and utalize the tools from the company that I got the ebook from). I am not concerned and I am sure that they will become second nature to me by the end of this week or the next.

I will have more on my ebooks next post ( I forgot to post this one until just now :( )

I should be posting a new post for this week tomorrow or the next day

I was sad... But I see light

So I start school NEXT MONDAY! Super excited, like oh goodness she is a really big nerd excited. I went to buy my textbooks so I could get a head start and look at them and well just play with them. Let me tell you. I am so very happy that I did.
I was able to find two of my four textbook in ebook form, something that I was very happy about. It worked out that I was only able to get my Calculus book in the ebook format but when first trying to use it... it SUCKED! But then I learned some tricks to help out.

On of the first issues that I ran into was that I was only able to see my book after it downloaded every single time I wanted to access it.

Second was that I could only access it when I had access to the internet.

Third I could only really use it on one computer....

These were huge things that would hurt the paperless process completely. I would not have the access I would need for my book at anytime, and at a moments notice.

Well...

After playing with the program for a bit I was able to fix all of those issues as of right now.
I am using CafeScribe. A tool that so far seems to be very cool. Not only will is allow me to use my textbook anywhere but it will also allow me to compare notes with others that have the same book, create study groups, as well as make digital notes within my ebook.

So far things seem to be going well. I will find out on MONDAY just what it means to be a paperless student.

Wish you all the best of luck for those of you that are starting or have started teaching or learning for this school year.

Trial Run

Last week I was able to get good exposure in using the tablet in actual classwork. I was able to take good notes as well as do homework. I have started to implement the tablet in my work setting as well as coupling it with my blackberry to keep up with other parts of my life.

One thing that I have run into was creating my full homework assignment as one pdf. I have decided to add Adobe Acrobat to my arsenal of tools, which will allow me to actually add pages to a pdf. The down fall to this is that I now have three programs that I have to go through just to submit my homework or anything else for that matter to my instructors that I want to write out by hand. I don't mind the extra steps, where I have issues is that it allows for yet another program to mess up some how and get in the way of me getting my work in on time and readable for my instructor.

My big brother suggest that I download a driver that would allow me to print to a pdf which would be nice, so I am in search for a driver that would allow me to do that.

If anyone else has any other advice I would love to hear from you.

I have continued my research on other students going paperless and I am not finding much from the students point of view. There are many instructors tying it out, but much of that is in the k-12 world. While I think that it is wonderful that there is a movement to implement tech in the k-12 setting I would like to know what is the plan for those students when they get to college setting? Are we setting them up for a completely online college experience or will be able to meet them at their technological level?

But anyways.... I was very happy to see that our University of La Verne Bookstore is now offering digital copies of textbooks. (For the textbooks that have digital copies anyways) I will be taking advantage of this option this semester for most of my textbooks. Super happy about this.

I am wondering about how I will be able to master multiple screens with only one computer. I may need to supplement some screen space with my mac so that I will be able to read and take notes at the same time. That actually seems to the biggest issue even at this point. I have cut down so much on what I can see all at the same time I feel a bit limited. I almost want mulitple screens to look at rather then just one.

Running into a problem... Problem solved!

The issue lies in the fact that I cant seen to get my hands on any tablets that I am interested in buying before I buy it. I have been able to use Bryan's tablet (thank you!) but I have yet to find a tablet to call my very own. I had planned to go with the Lenovo as previously mentioned but I have sneaking suspicions that it will not be as good as I thought it could be.
I have been online all morning trying very hard to find one that I could get but I run into the issue of not being able to go some place and actually test the computer or the issue of a massive bill. (Far out of the budget I had in mind for this project)....

So, I have been able to solve the problem mentioned above. Bryan has given me permission to use his tablet for this up coming semester.

There may be plans for future expansion of this experiment. But they are still very whisper in the wind status, so that is all I can say for right now.