Before I had actually given it some real thought, I thought that buying an iPad would mean spilling, like, $1,000 on a glorified Kindle. But when I actually decided to consider this investment, I realized that I couldn’t have been more wrong. If you want to get an iPad mainly for notetaking and streaming, there’s no need to get one of the fancy models, so the one that I got was only $300 (+$100 for the Apple Pencil) (on sale because I buy everything on sale but still very different from what I was expecting). And through all of the time, energy, and effort it has saved me thus far in my academic career, I think it was definitely worth the investment.
While I may not be organized in every aspect of my life, I am always on top of keeping my notes and study guides organized for all of my classes. That being said, I normally have a separate binder or notebook or folder for each class, which becomes a lot to carry around at once, especially if I am planning on getting different work done for different classes somewhere other than my apartment. Filling up my backpack past its tipping point is not always the most fun. With all of my notes on my iPad this semester and only one other notebook that I carry around, I frequently think that I’m forgetting to bring something because of how light my backpack is now due to all the space I’ve saved with the iPad.
Something that is kind of small that I find really useful with my iPad is just having the Canvas Student app downloaded. When I’m doing assignments, it’s almost like having a second monitor because I can easily pull up assignment details, check Canvas announcements, and even submit assignments right from my iPad. If I am doing some kind of assignment on my laptop, it’s so much easier to view the assignment details on my iPad rather than on the Canvas app on my small phone screen or trying to split-screen the tabs between my work and the assignment page.
One feature of my iPad that I cannot shut up about is GoodNotes. GoodNotes is an app for the iPad—which I’ve raved about in the past—that makes my life (and, I know, a lot of my friends’ lives) so much easier. For starters, you can create your documents with so many different choices of paper — ruled paper, graph paper, dotted paper, planner templates, or even music scores. It makes it easy for me to find a note-taking strategy that really works for each class that I’m in. As a bonus, it’s super easy to export documents as pdfs as well, and there’s even an option to share it via the Canvas app, making submitting work a breeze.
Another feature I am a really big fan of, albeit, one that a lot of different apps offer, is the ability to import documents or slideshows and then annotate directly on them. As someone who, back in the day, would print out class slides and write on them during class, having an iPad saves me so much physical space, money in printer ink, as well as the planet by using so much less paper. It’s also super easy to now able to access my notes from anywhere instead of having to lug around 20 pounds of papers everywhere.
My last selling points are for those who already have a MacBook or iPhone: with
GoodNotes, you can also access all of your notes, all the time, from either your laptop or phone. Being able to quickly review my notes on my phone right before an exam without having to open my backpack to grab my iPad out of its case and waste time can be a lifesaver. In general, it’s super convenient because you have the option to review stuff on-the-go and not worry about always bringing all of your work with you.
For all the above and more, I truly believe that purchasing an iPad was one of my best financial decisions for school, and is definitely worth considering.
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