Working with a stylus

Ok, I'll be honest. My handwriting is of the type most often seen in the medical fields. As an English/HSIE teacher by trade, its honestly embarrassing. However, computers have managed to keep my secret shame for a good few years. However it's becoming increasingly hard to hide....

Late last year I took the plunge and purchased an Asus VivoTab Note 8. This is a handy piece of kit in and of itself and can be found edging closer to $300AUD.

Asus VivoTab Note 8 + Bamboo Feel + cheap ebay case

My reason for choosing the Asus VivoTab Note 8 over other cheaper options was because it made use of a Wacom digitizer. Having used this on my Samsung ATIV I was loathe to go back to and old and clunky stylus. More importantly, I was already a proud owner of a Bamboo Feel Stylus, easily one of the best upgrades I've ever made. With these products I am able to write effectively on the screen and it actually feels close to normal.

So what?

Well, here are some of the things I could do:

• Student submits a typed essay, I could still annotate by hand on-screen. This provided a more personal interactions, all the ease of handwriting but with the security and convenience of digital documents.
• PowerPoint's could be delivered wirelessly to the projector and annoted. Mindmaps now became embedded in the PowerPoint. 
• I could jot to do lists, quick emails, etc on the tablet without using the clunky on-screen keyboard. 
• I could draw, sketch, plan and design on OneNote, Word, in email or graphics programs.
• In meetings I only required my tablet and a pen. I could write my minutes into the agenda in my short-form and draw all over documents.

It was surprising how handy it became! 

If you want to know more about using a stylus with Office products, Microsoft has put together a handy guide.