NoteBook | Who Uses NoteBook
NoteBook User Profile – Teacher
1. What is your name and occupation?
My name is Christa Bell, and I am a Chemistry teacher (ages 16-19, in a pre-University setting).
2. Describe a typical day at work.
As a teacher, I am either lecturing in a classroom or preparing my classroom activities and lecture notes.
3. How does NoteBook fit into your workflow?
I use NoteBook in my classes to present material to the students. I prepare a document using a word processor that includes all relevant theories and examples. Then I convert the document to a PDF and use NoteBook to present it to students while adding annotations and solutions to problems using a Wacom tablet. I also use NoteBook to put together solution sets that involve diagrams, calculations, and text so I can easily distribute it electronically to students.
4. How has NoteBook boosted your performance as a teacher?
NoteBook has been an invaluable teaching resource for me! In chemistry there are many definitions, diagrams, and mathematical problems. The definitions and theories are most efficiently presented in word processed text, but the diagrams and mathematics are best presented when written by hand. NoteBook allows for both methods of presentation at the same time by creating a word document with key points and definitions and annotating it in Notebook with an external writing tablet. This also makes an electronic copy of the lecture which I can distribute to absent students or keep on file to refer to for the following year. It is also clearer to see than the dusty blackboard.
NoteBook is also an amazing tool for creating electronic documents that have a lot of sketches or mathematical equations. I use it for all my solution sets. Before I would have to write a paper copy and then scan it. It is also much easier to edit these documents when they are created in NoteBook.
My students adore how I use my tablet and NoteBook in the classroom. One student referred to it as, “The sickest teaching aid he has ever seen.” This I took to be a positive comment :).
5. What are your favorite NoteBook features?
The ability to use it with an external writing tablet!
6. Do you use NoteBook with any other apps?
I use Apple’s Pages program to create a PDF and then annotate the PDF with NoteBook.
7. Has NoteBook replaced other apps?
I used to do the same type of PDF annotation with Photoshop but it was not efficient for this purpose. I also use NoteBook instead of the Mac’s InkWell utility as the diagrams drawn in NoteBook are much easier to edit and they can still be copied into Pages documents.
8. How would you describe NoteBook in one sentence?
An excellent replacement for the dusty blackboard!
