March 12th, 2009
Taking notes on your Linux laptop
So you’ve just bought a new netbook and saved some cash by making sure Linux was pre-installed. Or you bought one with Windows XP Home and decided that you were looking for something a bit more modern so you tossed on Ubuntu. Or you’ve just started a 1:1 program and your students all have Linux laptops sitting in front of them. You get the idea - this is a post for Linux users in schools.
All of those laptops are great for lots of things, whether accessing information, collaborating on documents, running educational applications, or some other innovative use. However, students, maybe more than anything else, need to learn to take good notes. They need to take information from lectures, the Web, guest speakers, and anywhere else, and organize it in some useful way so that they can write about and remember it. What better place to take notes than on a laptop? It’s a lot harder to lose a netbook than a scrap of paper or a spiral notebook.
While some may argue that a site like Google Apps lends itself to note-taking (your notes are available anytime, anywhere), some incredibly useful note-taking applications have evolved for Linux. These applications have specific functionality for clearly organizing notes, links, quotes, and relevant information.
Take some time to explore them. This round-up from Tuxradar does a nice job of summarizing the best of breed for Linux. My personal favorite is NoteCase. How about you? Talk back below with useful note applications for Windows and Mac as well or sound off if you think these notes are best left in the cloud.
Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.
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| 03/13/09
