When starting this assignment I thought about what note taking tool I should use and immediately decided on OneNote. It seemed an obvious choice to me, because I am a student at the University of Portland I have free access to OneNote. I looked it over when UP first did the diabolical switch from Google to Microsoft that most students I talked to were so fearful of (What about Google Docs they said?!?). However I still find myself being very much a traditionalist as a student. When I’m in a classroom I like a pad of paper and a pen in front of me, not a laptop. I find that if I type it just does not filter through my brain the same way and I end up leaving the class having gained nothing. I need to physically write to learn. So I quickly tossed aside the idea of using OneNote.
This assignment gave me the chance to give it a second look in a slightly different capacity.
And this time I enjoyed using OneNote. I still would not use it as a student in a classroom because I know myself enough to know if I’m going to learn and remember something I have to handwrite it. But I liked it for the purpose of a project. It gave me the space to put my notes in more of a free format then Microsoft Word does which was satisfying. I could start typing anywhere on the page. It would embed the video links and actually allow me to watch them from the page. I could organize the material however I chose, and then reorganize it when I actually had my assignment figured out. I like using OneNote and could see myself using it for planning lessons or future projects. Its nice to keep everything in one spot but be able to have multiple pages and separate notebooks.
Students in classrooms now are fairly digitally literate, and might not have the same issues I do with needing paper and pencil. I could see in a 1-to-1 school having a class use OneNote to take notes, work on projects or even as a study tool. I could also see the potential to create lessons on it, share it with each student and then have them actually interact with the notebook and return it with completed “homework” or activities that were outlined. This would have to be in a technology able class but that is where I see most schools heading towards so it is a good idea to keep in the back of your pocket.
I would be interested in using other notetaking applications to see what the benefits and weaknesses of each are but I enjoyed using OneNote and could see its applications in the classroom, plus I always have a enlightening time when I’m able to research a scientific topic that interests me. I hope you learn something when looking at my notes on antibiotic resistance!
Image: Ully Beil
I like that you brought up the distinction between taking notes to help learn content vs notes as storing information. I agree that the act of taking down notes on paper or via something like Word helps “cement” the information in our memory. Goes from listening to summarizing to paper.
I find Evernote useful not as memory cue, but as a curation tool for all the information I encounter on a daily basis in the various domains of my personal, professional and civil life. No way I could write it all down or remember it.
As a teacher I’m always coming across content and idea that immediately make me thing – that would be good for a lesson someday.