When we first got our iPads I wasn’t that excited about it just because I already owned a tablet and had only used it at most 3-4 times in the past year. I found a tablet to be unnecessary when I already had an iPhone and MacBook laptop. Since we got the iPads on Thursday I decided to try to go without using a notebook in my classes this semester. Since the majority of my classes are computer based I don’t think it should be too difficult. I usually take notes in a notebook because my laptop is too much of a distraction and I always find myself ending up on Facebook or something else I shouldn’t be doing in class.
I’ve downloaded a few apps for listening and making music, to-do lists, Evernote, scannable, yammer, yik yak, and a few other apps. I haven’t downloaded Facebook yet because I’m afraid I won’t be as productive if I have it downloaded. I’m currently typing this post on my iPad which is definitely less efficient than if I had just used my laptop keyboard. I need to get used to typing on this awkward keyboard because I feel like I’m a much faster typer when using a physical keyboard. It’s a lot easier to just stick my iPad in my bag before running to class instead of lugging around a heavy MacBook and its charger. I’ve had my laptop since graduating high school in 2011 so the battery can’t hold a charge for very long. So far I am very impressed with the battery life of the iPad and think I could rely on it to last me throughout the day without having to charge it.
I’ve played around with a few music production apps so far like Beatwave, Auxy, edjing and a few others. I had a lot of fun with Auxy making different songs with my roommate. The app was simple to use and made it easy to export your songs from the app. I haven’t taken my iPad to class yet but I plan on using Evernote to take notes in some of my classes tomorrow. I hope I’m able to organize my notes and write them as well as I would in a physical notebook. I downloaded Instagram and made a new account for our class but have yet to post anything. The iPad is an awkward size for taking photos so I will have to experiment with that.
I’m finding most things pretty easy to accomplish with the iPad. Writing this post is going a lot faster than I expected but typing still feels pretty weird. I think I will probably always prefer a physical keyboard but Im sure over the next few weeks that I will get used to typing on the tablet. One thing I noticed about the iPad that has been bothering me is that it locks automatically and requires a password to be entered to use it. I tried to change it in settings only to discover that this setting couldn’t be changed to allow even a minute before automatically locking. I realized that this is probably a security measure in case a student loses their iPad and doesn’t have their information and files accessed by someone else.
Navigating the blog site on Safari has been a little irritating but I think that’s mostly because I haven’t really become familiar with the blog site yet. I was trying to view other people’s posts other than the syllabus and assignments that Cole had posted but it took me a while of clicking around to find them.
I haven’t had the iPad long enough to say what apps I find to be the most valuable but I definitely see Evernote being very useful to take notes in class. I like a lot of the features it comes with like organizing by different “notebook” and being able to attach photos, reminders and lists. I think it will be useful to use scannable in combination with Evernote to scan syllabi or any other papers that my professors may hand out. I’d love to have all my class work and notes in one convenient app instead of notebookS, binders, folders, and scattered in my backpack and desk drawer,
The iPad has changed my workflow a bit by making it easier for me to focus on one task at a time because I don’t find myself constantly switching from one tab to the next. If I was using my laptop to write this post I would be checking Facebook, Buzzfeed or Reddit every few minutes. The most distracting thing I’ve done while writing this post is changing the song on SoundCloud or responding to a text message. I usually spend more time choosing a song to listen to than I do actually focusing on my homework or assignments. I came to class this morning to find that my professor didn’t show up so instead of leaving I sat in the lobby writing this post on my iPad. If I had my laptop I would’ve just spent this free time on social media or checking my email. I think the iPad will make me more productive when I have a free hour or two in between my classes.
Next week I want to try taking and editing photos with the ipad, possibly editing videos, posting to Instagram, Twitter, and taking and organizing class notes. I’d like to work on making more music and seeing which app is most user-friendly.
February 3, 2015 at 8:18 pm
Interesting observations and I appreciate that you are using to post to the site. Have you tried to use the dictation feature yet? I wrote the Bb post this morning by speaking it to my iPad. Much faster — if you have your thoughts in order. The one thing I do like about my iPad is that it becomes the app I am using and I find it less distracting that my Mac.
February 3, 2015 at 9:40 pm
I haven’t used the dictation feature on the iPad just yet but thank you for the suggestion! I’v used it on my iPhone before but I find that if I talk like I normally do, the phone tends to autocorrect some things wrong or write things I didn’t say. I’ll definitely try it out for my next blog post though to see how efficient it is.