Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Requirements for electronic note taking systems: A field study of note taking in university classrooms

  • Published:
Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Note taking is the core activity for students in a classroom. There has been a large amount of research conducted, both from industry and from academia, into facilitating the note-taking process. There is evidence that shows that note taking can be beneficial for the students’ educational growth. There are also many available systems for taking notes electronically (e.g. Tablet PCs, PDAs). However, what has not been given as much attention is how these electronic devices affect (or support) the note taking task. In this paper, we study university students’ current note taking behavior and the changes caused by the use of electronic systems for this activity. The goal of our work is to identify issues that should be considered when evaluating electronic note taking systems and to formulate requirements for future electronic note-taking systems. Our findings show that while the technological support for writing with pens on electronic surfaces is quite advanced, the task of note taking in the classroom is not well supported. We identify the limitations of typical note taking systems and discuss the implications for the design of future note taking systems. Our work consisted of three parts: a survey of current note-taking practices, an observational study in a classroom environment, and a semester long case study of students using electronic note-taking devices. All of these activities took place at a large 4-year university. We found that the people reacted to note-taking devices very differently and that their current practices were not always well supported. The users all wanted to input information as fast as possible, in the manner they wanted but they were not always able to achieve that. Hardware limitations (i.e. screen size, responsiveness) added to this issue. We also found that the features that are well supported in an electronic medium (i.e. modification, reorganizing, multiple pen colors/styles, handwriting recognition, sharing) were not commonly used or wanted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abowd, G. D., Atkeson, C. G., Feinstein, A., Hmelo, C., Kooper, R., Long, S., Sawhney, N., et al. (1997). Teaching and learning as multimedia authoring: the classroom 2000 project. In Proceedings of the fourth ACM international conference on Multimedia (pp. 187–198).

  • Anderson, R., Anderson, R., Simon, B., Wolfman, S. A., VanDeGrift, T., & Yasuhara, K. (2004a). Experiences with a tablet PC based lecture presentation system in computer science courses. In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (pp. 56–60). New York, NY: SIGCSE’04 ACM.

  • Anderson, R. J., Hoyer, C., Wolfman, S. A., & Anderson, R. (2004b). A study of digital ink in lecture presentation. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Vienna, Austria, April 24–29, 2004) (pp. 567–574). New York, NY: CHI’04. ACM.

  • Anderson, R., Anderson, R., Davis, K. M., Linnell, N., Prince, C., & Razmov, V. (2007). Supporting active learning and example based instruction with classroom technology. In Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Covington, Kentucky, USA, March 07–11, 2007) (pp. 69–73). New York, NY: SIGCSE ’07 ACM.

  • Bauer, A., & Koedinger, K. (2006). Evaluating the effect of technology on note-taking and learning. CHI ’06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brotherton, J. A., & Abowd, G. D. (2004). Lessons learned from eClass: assessing automated capture and access in the classroom. June 2004 ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 11(2), 121–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, P., Kapuskar, A., Reitmeier, S., & Wilcox, L. (1999). NoteLook: taking notes in meetings with digital video and ink. October 1999 Proceedings of the seventh ACM international conference on Multimedia (Part 1) (pp. 149–158).

  • Davis, R. C., Lin, J., Brotherton, J. A., Landay, J. A., Price, M. N., & Schilit, B. N. (1998). A framework for sharing handwritten notes. November 1998 Proceedings of the 11th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology (pp. 119–120).

  • Davis, R. C., Landay, J. A., Chen, V., Huang, J., Lee, R. B., Li, F. C., et al. (1999). NotePals: Lightweight note sharing by the group, for the group. May 1999 Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: the CHI is the limit (pp. 338–345).

  • Dourish, P. (2001). Where the action is: The foundations of embodied interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabe, M. (2005). Voluntary use of online lecture notes: correlates of note use and note use as alternative to class attendance. Computers & Education, 44, 409–421. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2004.04.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, J. I., & Landay, J. A. (2001). A context/communication information agent. January 2001 Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 5(1), 78–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Intons-Peterson, M. J., & Fournier, J. (1986). External and internal memory aids: when and how often do we use them? Journal of Experimental psychology: General, 115(3), 267–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, M., Lutters, W. G., & Kim, T. S. (2004). Understanding the micronote lifecycle: improving mobile support for informal note taking. April 2004 Proceedings of the 2004 conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 687–694).

  • Live Classroom (2005). http://www.wimba.com/products/liveclassroom/# (reviewed as Silicon Chalk).

  • Nardi, B. A. (1996). Context and consciousness: Activity theory and human computer interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoerri, A. (2002). Souvenir: Flexible note-taking tool to pinpoint and share media in digital libraries. July 2002 Proceedings of the second ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries (p. 383).

  • Truong, K. N., Abowd, G. D. (1999). StuPad: Integrating student notes with class lectures. May 1999, CHI ’99 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 208–209).

  • Truong, K. N., Abowd, G. D., & Brotherton, J. A. (1999). Personalizing the capture of public experiences. November 1999, Proceedings of the 12th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology (pp. 121–130).

  • Ward, N., & Tatsukawa, H. (2003). A tool for taking class notes. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 59(6), 959–981. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2003.07.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wirth, M. A. (2003).E-notes: Using electronic lecture notes to support active learning in computer science. June 2003 ACM. SIGCSE Bulletin (Vol. 35 Issue 2, pp. 57–60).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Research and Technology Center, Motorola Labs, Schaumburg, IL, 60196, USA

    Kibum Kim

  2. Computer Science Department, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Scott A. Turner & Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones

Authors
  1. Kibum Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Scott A. Turner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott A. Turner.

Appendix: Survey

Appendix: Survey

Class note taking survey

  1. 1.

    Please rate these based on your experience in a class.

  • I write down most of what a teacher writes on the board.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I write down most of what a teacher says.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I write down only what I think important among a teacher says.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I write down only what I think important among a teacher writes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I take no notes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • Other, please explain.

  1. 2.

    If you use a computer (desktop—in labs—, laptop or notebook) in the class, please answer the following question. Otherwise, please move to the next question. Please rate these based on your experience in a class.

  • I write down most of what a teacher writes on the board.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I write down most of what a teacher says.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I write down only what I think important among a teacher says.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I write down only what I think important among a teacher writes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I take no notes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • Other, please explain.

  • How do you enter the graphical contents such as diagrams on your computer?

  1. 3.

    Is it convenient to bring a notebook computer to class?

  • Yes

  • No

  • If no, are you willing to bring other alternatives, such as a tablet pc or a handheld, if they were available?

  1. 4.

    Do you think that internet access in the classroom is important during a class?

  1. 5.

    Do you prefer typing on the computer over writing on paper for taking notes in class?

  • If you prefer typing, why?

  • If you prefer writing, why?

  1. 6.

    Have you ever borrowed notes from your classmates?

  • Yes

  • No

If yes, did you...

  • photocopy the notes? Yes / No

  • transcribe them all? Yes / No

  • partially transcribe them? Yes / No

  • borrow a PAPER set of notes Yes / No

  • borrow an ELECTRONIC set of notes (i.e. your classmate has the notes online and just emailed them to you)? Yes / No

  • other:

  1. 7.

    When do you see your class notes which you have taken?

  1. 8.

    How do you normally look through your notes?

  • Sequentially

  • Jump to specific parts

  1. 9.

    Is it easy to find specific pieces of information when you review your notes?

  • Yes

  • No

  • If no, what kind of problems do you have?

  1. 10.

    Does taking notes help you understand the material? Yes No

  1. 11.

    Please rate these based on your experience reviewing your notes.

  • Having the lecture slides as references is/would be useful to me.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • Having an audio recording of the lecture is/would be useful to me.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • Having a video recording of the lecture is/would be useful to me.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • Having other students’ notes available to me is/would be useful to me.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  1. 12.

    Please rate these based on your experience taking your notes.

  • I commonly use URLs or emails addresses in my notes to denote things to look up or people to contact for more information.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I often add information from outside sources (papers, web sites, etc.) to my lecture notes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • I often add information learned from my homework to my lecture notes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking, I think typing is a NATURAL way for me to record the information.

  •  Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking, I think typing is an EFFICIENT way for me to record the information.

    • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking, I think writing with a pen is a NATURAL way for me to record the information.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking, I think writing with a pen is an EFFICIENT way for me to record the information.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking with a pen, I think writing using a gesture recognizing language, such as Graffiti, to be a NATURAL way for me to record the information.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking with a pen, I think writing using a gesture recognizing language, such as Graffiti, to be an EFFICIENT way for me to record the information.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  • While note taking with a pen, I want to be able to create free form drawings, such as circles, arrows, etc., to enhance my notes.

  • Strongly Agree      Agree     Neutral        Disagree        Strongly Disagree

  1. 13.

    Have you ever used an electronic note taking system?

  • Yes

  • No

  • If so, why did you try it? If not, why not?

If you are not currently using one, what leads you to not use an electronic note taking system? Mark all that apply.

  • Price of hardware

  • Ease of use

  • Ease of input

  • Availability

  • Naturalness

  • Lack of Features

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, K., Turner, S.A. & Pérez-Quiñones, M.A. Requirements for electronic note taking systems: A field study of note taking in university classrooms. Educ Inf Technol 14, 255–283 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-009-9086-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-009-9086-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation