Note taking Software/Hardware

[TronXP]

Our compliance officer looked at rocketbook's privacy policy and labelled it inadequate. Hasn't been updated since 2018, no mention of GDPR/Privacy Shield.

[Oaktech]

I've got 3 people using ReMarkable - they chose to buy it for themselves - and it does work really well, I hear nothing but good things from the users and I don't really see the devices except in use in meetings!

[cheekycharly]

I have just sent an email to the head with 4 categories where its Top End, Mid Level, Budget Friendly & Other

 

I have put a couple of hours into reading about them now as I knew nothing and collated all the good information you guys here on EduGeek have given me.

 

The ones that seem to get the worst reviews are the pens where you Start/Stop, saw soo many 1star negative style reviews on these that I don't think they are novice friendly and easy to forget you are not recording.

[PotNoodleTech]

Good thread!

 

I've just been using google keep for years - I've tried out several different apps over the years but tend to gravitate to apps that are just super fast and easy to get in instantly open on any device and start typing.

 

Keep isn't the best as it's not great (terrible) for organising large volumes of stuff but it works fast and I tend to transfer any big meeting notes etc into google docs or the like.

 

My handwriting is senior consultant illegible so I automatically gravitated to wards IT and typing at an early age. (parents were supportive and thinking about it I probably owned many of the early organisers invented from in school school upwards, from early casios to psion to palm to HP Ipaq, etc etc)

 

What about that new tablet that gets advertised alot on the TV/youtube etc I think it's "Remarkable" looks like a bigger better version of the old kindles which I know people loved due to the greyscale and speed etc

Edited June 7, 2024 by PotNoodleTech

[DrCheese]

How are you managing these from an IT standpoint? I've had a request to get a remarkable as a sample, but right now I can't see how we'd manage them in any MDM. I would wary without being able to lock them down like we do iPads/android tablets .

[Rob_D]

How are you managing these from an IT standpoint? I've had a request to get a remarkable as a sample, but right now I can't see how we'd manage them in any MDM. I would wary without being able to lock them down like we do iPads/android tablets .

 

What are you trying to stop people doing on them? They aren't tablets, they're digital notebooks. All you can do is write stuff or doodle, like on paper (or download PDFs and annotate/doodle on them). There's no web browser, at most you can download docs form your OneDrive/Google Docs and email note pages.

The most management I can see you needing are the user subscriptions, which you can do through their business portal.

[TechMonkey]

Staff do need to be careful that they don't take notes in sensitive meetings and have them sync to their personal account. Our DSL started using one and I made sure he had put a PIN on it and asked him to be careful where his notes went.

If I was to want to manage these, I would want to enforce PIN and be able to remote wipe at a minimum. Maybe domain lock where the notes could go to? Doesn't help for staff bringing in their personal devices though.

[Rob_D]

Remarkable don't support remote device management, so any restrictions would have to be enforced through policies.

If remote management is a deal breaker, then you could pitch an iPad and apple pencil for about the same price and with loads more functionality.

[DrCheese]

What are you trying to stop people doing on them? They aren't tablets, they're digital notebooks. All you can do is write stuff or doodle, like on paper (or download PDFs and annotate/doodle on them). There's no web browser, at most you can download docs form your OneDrive/Google Docs and email note pages.

The most management I can see you needing are the user subscriptions, which you can do through their business portal.

 

Force them to have things like PIN lock & blocking personal accounts on them. Being able to set them to lost/wipe mode if they go missing. Ensuring that the local device is encrypted.

 

There's loads you'd want these to have an MDM for, especially if they're taking notes about students.

 

That and the DFE mandate all of the above

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-digital-and-technology-standards-in-schools-and-colleges/laptop-desktop-and-tablet-standards

 

"To meet this standard, the SLT digital lead should make sure all devices are centrally managed and meet the needs of those using them. "

Edited June 7, 2024 by DrCheese

[Rob_D]

Fair enough, I was thinking from the point of restrictions against misuse by students.

If you need all that then remarkable really aren't fit for purpose as they don't even support doing most of the things you want, let alone through an MDM.

 

If you really wanted to use them, then one could make the argument that, used offline, they're basically a notebook. But given the premium price tag it seems silly to compromise rather than looking for alternatives which would probably be cheaper and could have more features.

[Cat_Jam148]

Our headteacher has recently been wow'd by someone using a Remarkable and has got me looking into this.

 

For those who use a Remarkable - Are there any reasons why I shouldn't just hand her an iPad with an Apple Pencil? I'm finding it hard to justify the price for a remarkable when an iPad can do so much more

 

Obviously, battery life is something to consider - I assume being an e-ink it lasts a good while

[Rob_D]

Our headteacher has recently been wow'd by someone using a Remarkable and has got me looking into this.

For those who use a Remarkable - Are there any reasons why I shouldn't just hand her an iPad with an Apple Pencil? I'm finding it hard to justify the price for a remarkable when an iPad can do so much more

Obviously, battery life is something to consider - I assume being an e-ink it lasts a good while

 

The main advantages come from the e-ink display, so battery life (I get around 2-3 weeks out of mine with active use - a bit more if I turn the wifi off when I'm don't need it), easily visible in bight sunlight, no backlight so no screen glare. Supposedly less latency than apple pencil, but it's not really noticeable IME. The slightly textured surface has more of a paper feel so you don't get the glassy glide you have on tablet screens. I would say the remarkable has slightly better palm rejection. And it's about 80g lighter than an iPad.

 

I love mine. But I'm not sure I'd ever recommend it for schools when, for the same price you can get an iPad and pencil that will do pretty much the same thing plus a load extra and is more easily manageable etc, etc.