With the University of Calgary marching slowly towards a campus-wide wireless internet network, at least one company is looking to profit from the ensuing laptop boom.
Microsoft’s OneNote note- taking software gives users one place to store, search and organize their information. Acting as a kind of digital binder it allows you to copy and paste notes and information from a variety of sources, including PowerPoint slides, Excel charts, images and general text. It also allows you to size these according to need and add your own notes. You can create as many documents and folders as you like and it has a search function to assist in retrieval.
Leading the charge is fourth-year communications and culture student and U of C’s Microsoft Campus Representative Jordan Pavelich.
“OneNote is aimed at being accessible to all students,” said Pavelich. “Microsoft has a free trial available to download which lasts 180 days. Those downloading it now will be able to use it until the end of the winter semester. Following this the software is available at a discounted price for students–around $40 instead of the usual retail price which is around three times that amount.”
Some students have already begun using the software.
“Gone is the stack of loose leaf covered with unfocused notes, attached (most often out of order) to a ratty old clipboard,” said fourth-year geomatics engineering student Joel Maduck. “However, not just my notes are clearer and more organized as a result of OneNote, but my thoughts are much more focused and organized; tackling school work and studying is a much less daunting task.
Pavelich pointed to the U of C Management Information Systems Association and the Zoo Council, a collective of electrical computer and software engineering students. Both organizations are already heavy users of the software and have engaged with Pavelich to provide training seminars. However, he was keen to stress the simple nature of OneNote.
“You don’t need to be technically minded to use it,” he said. “It integrates well with the rest of the Microsoft products.”