Electronic Note-taking
The Electronic Note-taker in an educational context
How can I expect an Electronic Note-taker to behave?
Benefits of using an electronic note-taker
Potential problems
Useful Links
What is electronic note-taking?
Electronic note-taking involves the operator using a laptop and specialist software to record what is said in a lecture. Specialist software makes this easier by expanding abbreviations and allowing whole words to be assigned to individual keys.
SpeedText and Stereotype are the two main types of software used for electronic note taking. You may also come across Typewell, Note-ED or another product that is currently in development called Notetaker. While the appearance and some of the functions may differ, each product works in a similar way:
- The notes are transmitted liveeither to another laptop in front of the student, or to a laptop connected to a data projector (this is useful when there are a number of students requiring the service or you do not know in advance who in the audience will require the service, e.g. at conferences). The effect is like “live subtitling”.
- The operator, or sender, types notes directly into a computer using an electronic note-taking software package. The sender’s computer is connected via cable, network or wireless connection to another computer, a number of computers or a computer attached to a data projector.
- The notes are transmitted live to the student, or receiver, so that she is aware of what is being said at that time, can make their own supplementary notes, ask the note-taker questions and save the notes in their preferred format.
There are other forms of electronic note-taking such as Palantype, shorthand and Stenography, but these are not covered in this resource.
An alternative for people who do not have access to the software is typed notes. If you are giving students notes in electronic format, MS Word, plain text or html are the most accessible formats.
back to top
The electronic note-taker in an educational context
In educational settings, electronic note-taking can be provided by in-house operators or it can be provided by freelance operators.
There are different types of electronic note-taking which are appropriate in different situations, for example a student may ask the electronic note-taker to simply record the main points in one session, and to write down as much as possible as close as possible to verbatim (word for word) in another.
Students should agree on the kind of notes they want with the note-taker before they start to work together.
There are two ways that the student can view the live electronic notes:
1. On the screen of a desktop or laptop computer
The student’s computer will need the receiver version of the ETN software (e.g. Stereotype, SpeedText) installed on it and this computer is connected to the note-taker’s laptop.
The two computers can be connected using a simple cable, using the local college computer network or by using an infrared wireless transmitter.
The student will be able to:
- save the notes onto his or her computer at any time during the session
- change the colours and print size on the screen
- add his or her own notes and send questions to the note-taker
The software is usually fairly simple, but students will need to spend time getting used to understanding how to use it.
This is what the sender’s, screen looks like when they use Stereotype:
2. Projected on to a wall or screen at the front of the room
This usually happens when there are a number of people in the room who require access to what is being said, for example in a conference or a large lecture. Individuals can ask for a copy of the notes to be sent by email or to be put onto a disk.
back to top
How can I expect an electronic note-taker to behave?
The rules about the right way to behave, called ‘codes of ethics’, used by electronic note-takers will be similar to those used by other communication support professionals. Usually they include:
- Respecting that the student is an independent adult and the person in control of what you do.
- Respecting the confidentiality of all sessions attended and not talking about what was said or what happened with anyone else.
- Not accepting assignments that are outside his or her capabilities. This means that sometimes electronic note-takers may not want to work on a job; this can be for reasons of the subject matter, for emotional reasons, personal connections with any person involved, the level of information or any terminology used.
back to top
Benefits of using an electronic note-taker
If the student:
- Has a good level of English and can read quickly
- Wants to have instant access to lecture notes
- Wants to be able to add his or her own notes and to ask the note-taker questions
- Wants to take away a reasonably full transcript of everything that was said
- Does not mind that diagrams are not included
Then the student may benefit from using an electronic note-taker.
back to top
Potential Problems
- Electronic note-taking provides fast and efficient production of information, but it is only useful if the student has sufficient knowledge of English to follow the information on the screen at speed.
- Electronic note-taking may not be suitable therefore for whose first language is British Sign Language and who is unfamiliar with English grammar.
- A lecture, which includes diagrams, scientific symbols or mathematical formulae, will present difficulties when recorded electronically using a conventional computer keyboard.
- There are a limited number of trained Electronic Note-takers.
- Staff and students need to be comfortable with setting up the laptops and using the software.
back to top
Useful Links
Information about turning handwritten notes into electronic notes using digital pens, interactive whiteboards and tablet PCs is contained in the BRITE online article ‘Take Note!’ http://www.brite.ac.uk/resources/note_taking_solutions.htm
CACDP http://www.cacdp.org.uk/ for ETN course information
SpeedText www.rnid.org.uk
Stereotype www.stereotypenotetakingsoftware.com
Typewell www.typewell.com
Note-ED: http://note-ed.org
The Association of Notetaking Professionals represents manual and electronic notetakers in the UK . The ANP website contains information on different forms of notetaking for disabled students, training opportunites and also a register of qualified notetakers which can be downloaded.
Association of Notetaking Professionals: www.anpnotetakers.co.uk
back to top |
