[NABS-L] taking notes at college

[Theodore Tsolakis]

Hello,

I have a question regarding note-taking during college lectures and
tutorials. I live in Australia, so apologize if there are differences
between Australian and United States colleges, but I hope you will
still be able to provide me with useful information.

Currently I am in high school, and to make notes during class, I use a
braille notetaker connected to a laptop computer as a braille display.
When taking notes in class, I do not receive any speech feedback from
my screen reader. I will be unable to use this system at college
because the desks are not large enough to accommodate both devices.

I know that I could take notes by just using my braille notetaker, but
I worry that, although I am able to type braille relatively quickly, I
am unable to reach the typing speed that I would have when using a
QWERTY keyboard. I know that I could also take notes just using a
laptop computer with an ear bud in only one ear so that I will be able
to hear what the lecturer is saying, but I worry that I will struggle
to listen to both my screen reader echoing the text that I have typed
as well as the new information the lecturer is providing.

I am wondering what systems college students such as yourselves employ
for notetaking. What have you tried? What has worked well? What has
not worked so well for you? I am open to all opinions and advice as I
have other assistive technology products as well.

Theodore