Thing 26: Note-Taking Tools
After reading the introduction to this thing, I
took a moment to reflect on my own note-taking skills. I tend to mark up
written materials with my notes (on the hard copy paper) and then rewrite them
while typing into a digital document. This helps me organize my notes as I go.
I was very interested to investigate some of the note-taking tools being
introduced through this “thing”.
To get started, I read through the article Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting . It made several great points in support of not using laptops during lectures, especially at the high school and college level. It makes sense to me, because how can students be listening, assimilating, thinking, AND typing all at the same time without some of the meaning being lost or forgotten? Also interesting to me is the concept of “visual pollution” and how one person’s use of a laptop can take away from the learning experience of a student not using one.
The quick reference guide Note Taking Tips for Different Learning Styles is a helpful reminder to me as a teacher to encourage my students to take notes in different ways and use techniques that best support their learning styles. And of the 5 tools evaluated in The Best Note-Taking Apps of 2017 , I had only heard of one (and never used any of them).
LEARNING ACTIVITY
Next it was time to explore some of the suggested tools. Since I’ve “adopted” many aspects of Google apps, I decided it made sense to check out Google Keep. I had never heard of this before. Scrolling through the main page of “Keep”, I was amazed to see that it seems to meet many needs that I’ve been thinking about. You can add photos, notes, and audio, and Keep can be used to help with things such as the examples on the webpage:
1) Need to remember to pick up some groceries? Set a location-based reminder to pull up your grocery list right when you get to the store. Need to finish a to-do? Set a time-based reminder to make sure you never miss a thing.
2) Share your shopping list with family members and watch the items get checked off in real time
3) Quickly filter and search for notes by color and other attributes like lists with images, audio notes with reminders or just see shared notes. Find what you're looking for even faster, and let Keep do the remembering for you.
4) Keep works on your phone, tablet and computer. Everything you add to Keep syncs across your devices so your important stuff is always with you.
After watching the Tutorial at https://youtu.be/TLvU2SWFZZA , I decided to download the Keep app on my iPhone and try it out, as well as experiment with it on my desktop Dell computer. It seems super easy to use, and has many features that make it enticing. Since I’m not already familiar with EverNote, but do enjoy the Google Suite of apps, I am thinking that Keep may become a regularly used tool for both school and home use. I can imagine using it for school when I want to keep a quick note about a particular class or class period; maybe something pertaining to a student in that class. Also, as the Library Media Specialist, I think this might be a great way to keep track of my book recommendations for my library regulars. Right now I simply jot down book titles that I think certain students might like on random sticky notes or in my planbook. I’m thinking that by using Keep, I can create a separate note for each of my frequent visitors and easily add book suggestions to their particular note as I come across them. That way the list of titles will be easy to access and reference when the student comes in. (Right now I have to search for where the sticky note landed or flip through my planbook to find the page I wrote my suggestions down on.) So I can see this as being a great timesaver! I also love the collaborative, real-time feature, and can see myself sharing notes with my husband for to-do lists and shopping lists, etc. Helpful both at home and school! I’m so glad I was introduced to this new Google feature I had never heard of.
To get started, I read through the article Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting . It made several great points in support of not using laptops during lectures, especially at the high school and college level. It makes sense to me, because how can students be listening, assimilating, thinking, AND typing all at the same time without some of the meaning being lost or forgotten? Also interesting to me is the concept of “visual pollution” and how one person’s use of a laptop can take away from the learning experience of a student not using one.
The quick reference guide Note Taking Tips for Different Learning Styles is a helpful reminder to me as a teacher to encourage my students to take notes in different ways and use techniques that best support their learning styles. And of the 5 tools evaluated in The Best Note-Taking Apps of 2017 , I had only heard of one (and never used any of them).
LEARNING ACTIVITY
Next it was time to explore some of the suggested tools. Since I’ve “adopted” many aspects of Google apps, I decided it made sense to check out Google Keep. I had never heard of this before. Scrolling through the main page of “Keep”, I was amazed to see that it seems to meet many needs that I’ve been thinking about. You can add photos, notes, and audio, and Keep can be used to help with things such as the examples on the webpage:
1) Need to remember to pick up some groceries? Set a location-based reminder to pull up your grocery list right when you get to the store. Need to finish a to-do? Set a time-based reminder to make sure you never miss a thing.
2) Share your shopping list with family members and watch the items get checked off in real time
3) Quickly filter and search for notes by color and other attributes like lists with images, audio notes with reminders or just see shared notes. Find what you're looking for even faster, and let Keep do the remembering for you.
4) Keep works on your phone, tablet and computer. Everything you add to Keep syncs across your devices so your important stuff is always with you.
After watching the Tutorial at https://youtu.be/TLvU2SWFZZA , I decided to download the Keep app on my iPhone and try it out, as well as experiment with it on my desktop Dell computer. It seems super easy to use, and has many features that make it enticing. Since I’m not already familiar with EverNote, but do enjoy the Google Suite of apps, I am thinking that Keep may become a regularly used tool for both school and home use. I can imagine using it for school when I want to keep a quick note about a particular class or class period; maybe something pertaining to a student in that class. Also, as the Library Media Specialist, I think this might be a great way to keep track of my book recommendations for my library regulars. Right now I simply jot down book titles that I think certain students might like on random sticky notes or in my planbook. I’m thinking that by using Keep, I can create a separate note for each of my frequent visitors and easily add book suggestions to their particular note as I come across them. That way the list of titles will be easy to access and reference when the student comes in. (Right now I have to search for where the sticky note landed or flip through my planbook to find the page I wrote my suggestions down on.) So I can see this as being a great timesaver! I also love the collaborative, real-time feature, and can see myself sharing notes with my husband for to-do lists and shopping lists, etc. Helpful both at home and school! I’m so glad I was introduced to this new Google feature I had never heard of.
No comments:
Post a Comment