Using my Android tablet w/ Logos 4 in class

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Using a Tablet in my Precepts class instead of a notebook has been a pleasant experience.

My setup:

Nesus 7 w/ Logos, Docs to Go, and AirDroid
(cellphone) Samsung Galaxy S2 w/ CamScanner and AirDroid
Bluetooth Mouse (Logitech)
Bluetooth Keyboard - full sized (Motorola)

Biggest disappointment I have right now is that while you CAN create Notes in Logos for Android, you can't edit them after they are created (from Android). Similarly, you can do Markups, but they don't show up right away, and creating them tends to crash Logos. Instead, I open a Word compatible document and edit it with Docs to Go. (Any good text editor should work though.) I can open Logos, then switch back and forth between them, even doing word searches and copying Hebrew script in the Word file. (Yes, copy and paste works!) Fortunately, Jelly Bean has a button that shows the last few open programs, so it is like doing and ALT-TAB in windows more or less. I can view my Markups and Notes I made on my PC previously, do searches, and keep notes from the class in the Word file.

I use my cell as a hotspot via bluetooth tethering as needed. Also, I use it to take photos of the whiteboard whenever there is a drawing. (I have to to find a GREAT drawing program for Android. I see lots of good editors, but nothing stands out for freehand creations.) CamScanner is a great app that lets you take a picture, crop, un-foreshorten, resize, and enhanced an image from something like a whiteboard and convert it to a readable PDF. (I hate taking pictures with tablets, but you could do it from one as long as it has a camera.)

When I get home, I use AirDroid on both devices to transfer the files to my PC. (AirDroid turns your Android device into a website where you can tranfer files back and forth, among other things.) I cut and paste from the Word file into a new Logos note, and put a copy of any new PDFs on the Tablet manaually to read later if needed.

Any Prayer Requests have to be entered manualy one by one from my Word file, but as Logos for Android does not currently support Prayer Lists, maybe that doesn't matter.

You still need a PC or Mac for editing notes/markups, but Logos for Android will scale up very well as hardware for Android improves. I think you probably will need a full size bluetooth keyboard if you take lots of Notes, and the Jelly Bean version of Android to switch programs smoothly. I already use my tablet exclusively as my Bible most Sundays. Battery life has not been an issue.

One note: For those using a Kindle Fire, it seems the Amazon Market does not get updated as soon or as often as the Google Market when it comes to Logos. You may not see features quite as fast as the rest of us...

Comments

Normanjd,
Congratulations on pulling together so much technology to do IBS, I'm really quite amazed at how much you accomplishing with a tablet, good for you! If I might be so bold, I have an idea that you might find helpful to your process.
I think that Evernote could answer many of your needs. To begin with, you could create the Word compatible document in Evernote (eliminating the need for Docs to go). You would be be able to take pictures of whiteboards with Evernote (which would eliminate the need for Camscanner) and save them as well as being able to mark up with skitch (which is part of Evernote and is the GREAT drawing program that you're looking for, I think). It would eliminate the need for Airdroid as Evernote would do the syncing between platforms automatically.
Here are two "pluses" that Evernote offers that your current configuration doesn't. First, any photos that you take would be attached to the note (Word compatible document) that you have open, saving you a lot of time in filing all of the different files being created by all of these different apps. Next, and most importantly, Evernote will turn every word in your note file into a searchable database, and more than that it will convert every word from a picture of a whiteboard into searchable text as well. Yes, it will do optical character recognition of your photos and the words will be searchable as well.
Once again, I would like to congratulate you on a fantastic integration of technology into the Bible Study process, I hope that my little suggestion might be of some assistance to you.
- blessings
Tom

Tom McCormick
pastortom@seeyouatcu.org

normanjd's picture

Evernote is a great choice... So is Google Docs... The key is to use whatever your comfortable to get the notes into Logos. It is my hope Logos will one day allow editing of Notes, reducing the need for all the extra steps...