[Athen] [EXT] Sonocent

[Mark C. Mintz]

We’ve been looking at Otter (https://otter.ai) as a notetaking tool for students. The feedback I get from students I demo it to is extremely positive, compared to Sonocent which is complex and requires multiple passes to make good notes.

I agree that the most critical thing is having someone who is good at notetaking who can assist the student with making good notes, however, this allows simple lookup access, so it’s more “Google” than “Encyclopedia Britannica”.

We’re looking at a license for next year. They’re offering accounts at $75 per account per year for education. I noticed some accessibility issues with the Android App, and the salesperson said they switched developers midway, if I sent the information, they would fix it (I did). I haven’t tested on the other apps yet, though it’s on my to do list.

The other issue, which should have been fixed by now, is team members could see other people on their team, so you lost confidentiality. They were supposed to patch it so you could set up anonymous groups a week or so ago.

If we do it, I’ll try and report out to the group.


Mark Mintz
Alt Media Specialist
Pasadena City College

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Sean Keegan
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2019 10:25 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] [EXT] Sonocent

We ran a basic evaluation of a note-taking program in the CCC system and I believe some of the most critical items for the success of any of these software programs is to keep it simple for students, provide the software app on the student's desired platform (e.g., mobile vs. laptop vs. Chromebook), and have a person or people who can regularly engage with the student to assess and refine the student's note-taking skills.

While such note-taking technology solutions seem straightforward, many of us are in professional roles and have had MUCH experience in taking notes throughout our college careers. For students who are new to college note-taking and/or are working with audiences who do not easily adopt new technologies, having a person available to work with a student on a regular basis to refine the note-taking process is critical. The technology component has to be as simple as absolutely possible so that there is opportunity for a college professional to work with students on developing note-taking skills rather than jumping through all the hoops required to operate the note-taking software or device.

I did see another note-taking company at CSUN this past year called Note Taking Express (https://notetakingexpress.com/) that looks interesting. Both Sonocent and Note Taking Express have pros and cons from a technology perspective, but after reviewing much data, I feel the most important component is having a person who can regularly assist a student with note-taking skill development.

Take care,
Sean

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