Note taking and/or paid note taking services in college?

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For those of you in college (and maybe even in high school) --

My husband is under the impression that in college, you can either get the professor's notes online, or you can obtain paid note taking services. Have any of you used either? What is your experience?

We are looking into this because we can see that note taking is very difficult for our 11 year old son. Our 21 year old son may be OK in this area, so this is the first time we are hitting a wall with note taking problems. Just wondering how people with note taking challenges handle college classes.

Thanks,

Kris

my notetaking skills were always lacking, but I always just memorized what the profs said, and took my own version of shorthand. That got my through a top-20 institution known for its accedemic rigors (I think ratings are bunk though). my 2nd grade teach told my parents once that I was very smart but I'd need a secretary... but I think that age 11 is almost too young to worry about this being a problem for your son, worries can be projected and make matters worse. just a thought.

My note-taking skills are not too bad, but at my college, the prof's notes are usually available online. This works quite well.

I LOVE taking notes, always have. Gives me something to focus on, and a reason to keep my head down instead of up. Very good stuff.

That said, most profs will put notes online. I think though it's probably better to encourage your son with doing his own. Taking notes helps the knowledge sink in.

I agree.

For me note-taking is mixed. Since my writing is bad, I usually use a PDA equipped with a keyboard or a laptop. For some classes, I can take decent notes, but when I get sleepy, I can't take notes very well if at all (I might be half asleep for one "slide" and be somewhat alert for the next)

Same.


That was what I did as well. I used a laptop in all my classes. This managed to serve several purposes. I could type my notes....since half the time I can't even read my handwriting. Some professors do give access to their notes, or some summarized form, or even a simple outline, so I could view that while taking notes. Depending on how in-depth their notes were, I could decide to either start my own notes, or use their notes as a starting point, and augment them as additional information was given in the lecture. Some reading assignments were given in an electronic format, rather than the students having to buy a textbook. I could also have those materials up in a window while I took notes. The biggest thing for me was : less paper, less chance to lose the papers.

If I was bored to tears, I could check my e-mail, browse websites (such as this one), do homework, or prepare for another class. (Not that I'm saying you should recommend this as a "good" choice, but it did help me out some. )

You can. The OSD office will pay a student, typically one whose enrolled in the same section of that class, to take notes for you. Here they have to hand in there notes within 24 of the class to be handed over to you.


As for me, my notetaking skills suck but thats largely because I didn't need to pay attention in class. I was brilliant at wrote memorization and that put me at the top of every class. It was always kind of embarassing when someone who knew that I was the "brightest" asked to see my notebook. First, I'd have to apologize for the fact that my notes were probably illegible, then they'd get them and discover there were more pictures than notes in the book. Once I missed a class that I actually put effort into taking notes for and borrowed someone elses notebook. I compared our notes from previous classes and discovered that we didn't have a single same note - it was hard to believe we had been taking notes in the same class.

Well, this is all very good information, and apparently my husband is right!

We are trying to teach our son note-taking, but can tell that it's going to be a long haul. Basically, he's not doing much of anything in class. His attention seems to wander a lot. Note taking skills, if we can get him to try it, will probably help give him a reason to pay attention. (He wants to pay attention, he just has the same mind-wandering problem that most people with AS have)

My husband was like you, Triangular Trees -- in that he never had to take notes, he just remembered everything very easily. We took one college class together, and while I was busily writing down everything, and highlighting EVERYTHING (he always made fun of me about that), he would just sit back and take it all in, and get infinitely better grades than I did. Infuriating!

My son, unfortunately, is not like my husband. His desire to do well in classes is high, but he just can't seem to pay attention in class -- too many other things distract him.

Kris

Depending on the school, the exact method of accomodation may vary. But if the AS is affecting his ability to take notes, then he will be able to get assistance through the disability office at the university.

At one school I went to, they actually paid people to go to the class and take notes (who were not students in the class at all). Where I am currently, they don't pay people at all, but they provide notebooks to a student who is already in the class and who volunteers to help, and these notebooks are set up with some sort of carbon-paper transfer system, so when they take notes in class, they get an instant copy to rip out and hand to the disabled student at the end of class.

So there are lots of ways that a student can get accomodations for note-taking problems, but the school will have some plan. It is still good for the student to try to take notes for themselves, even if they are getting notes from another source. Too many students overlook the importance of writing down the information themselves in the learning process.

Same experience with school here... our office is called DSS - Disabled Student Services

I had to have another assessment done by their people even with my official diagnosis of ADD/HD because I had to have a 'learning disability' in order to qualify.
This actually went without a hitch and I was offered in-class notetaking, recording equipment (or authorization to tape in class if the professor usually didn't allow it), test-taking at the testing center in a private quiet room and extra time if I wanted, tutors, computers and private rooms in their building, etc.

I barely used anything there.
I would go in every week because we had to clock-in a certain amount of hours because of regulations.
I would use the private rooms and computers.
That's all.

btw, I'm not signed up with them this semester. Gonna do it alone... I'm a REBEL...

Have him check into it. You don't have to walk around with a sign on you... at least not at my school ... and I think the professor is not even notified unless I tell them myself.

One thing... at my school, the way they get you a notetaker is the professor asks if anyone in the class would like to take notes for another student there (they never mention names) and asks for someone who can take notes as well as write legibly. The note taker gets paid for this somehow.
I don't use it so I can't say how it works.

It's nice that you came here and asked about this. I hope he appreciates it!

Yeah, because of confidentiality laws, the disability office can't disclose your disability to anybody. The student is responsible for notifying the instructor about the disability. The student will generally be given some sort of paperwork that verifies which accommodations the student is eligible to receive (note-taking assistance, allowed to record lectures, preferential seating, allowed to get up and leave, extended test time, non-distraction testing environment, etc.). The student then has to present this paperwork to the professor and discuss which accommodations will be necessary. The paperwork does not specify what the disability is, and the instructor cannot ask.

Right now I am having major issues with one professor, and I have gone in and discussed with her my accommodations and why I am having difficulty with her teaching style, but she is blowing me off. So I met with my disability coordinator and she is going to call the instructor and speak with her about my accommodations and learning style, but only with my permission, and she still can't disclose what my disability is. Instructors can, however, contact the disability office for clarification/verification of accommodations. But they still can't ask what the disability is.

In schools where another student in the class takes notes (which I would imagine is probably most schools), the instructor often will help locate a student who is willing to do this (although it may be up to the disabled student). Some instructors will make a general class announcement, but others will be more subtle (and many will be completely inexperienced and open to suggestion). Often, after the first week of class or so, the instructor has figured out who is on top of things and probably has good notes. Then, the instructor may approach that individual student privately about taking notes for the disabled student, rather than make a general announcement to the whole class. That way there is a little more privacy.

I've never heard of a disability office that actually requires you to log hours in their study center before. Everywhere that I have been, it's pretty much just a resource for you to use when you need it. Where I am right now, there isn't much of a facility to use for studying anyway. They do have a small computer lab (maybe 4-5 computers) with adaptive technology and software. But mostly the disability center is just offices of the coordinators, sign language interpreters, assistive technology folks, etc. Usually you meet with your coordinator once at the beginning of the semester to check in and get the paperwork, and then you don't need to see them again unless there's a crisis. Some students who need extra help with study skills and such may end up meeting weekly with their coordinator.

I just noticed this was actually related to your two sons.

I thought it was about your husband being in college.

At my daughter's elementary school, the teachers seemed to be pretty attentive to the kids who were referred to as 'resource kids'.

These were the kids who had diagnosed 'problems'. I don't know if AS was one of those.

The school district she went to only had a total of around 700 or so kids grades K - 8, so it was pretty small.
But, they did a really good job of trying to work with kids who were having a difficult time in school.
I do not know if they had anything for the younger kids as far as helping with notes.

I would think for a young child, it would be helpful if the teacher could record the lectures during the day and turn that over to you.
You could then go over it with your kid at home. The quality of the recording might be an issue especially if the teacher is walking around the room, or the kids are noisy.

As far as the 21yo, is he in college? If so, then I'd figure the school would have everything folks have listed here.

A note-taking service could have made a big difference for me in college. I've read guides to taking good notes, and a teacher in my high school taught us note-taking skills, but I still cannot take notes well in a lecture. In fact, looking back over my college career, I did much better in classes where the professor distributed his notes than in other classes. Definitely look into this service if your college-aged son is having note problems.

none of the professors I now off at my college put the notes on line, a few will post outlines or maybe a powerpoint presentation by special request and several would consider hireing a note taker academic dishonesty