Productivity
Note Taking Tips and Resources for Online Class Notes
Note Taking Tips and Resources for Online Class Notes
When it comes to University classes, it’s especially important to keep good notes. Follow these simple guidelines to become an all-star online note-taker for your online classes in no time.
1. Determine your Online Note-taking Style
Typing your notes is faster than handwriting them. For this reason, many students choose to take notes on their laptops. If you decide to take notes online, check out these helpful videos to help you organize your class notes. Keeping organized notes with a notetaking system is the first step to succeeding in your lectures.
Taking Notes With OneNote
OneNote is a fantastic resource to make digital notes. Check out the tutorial video below that shows the benefits of OneNote. It even has a feature that allows you to audio record lectures! Keeping all of your notes in one place can make studying for midterms and exams easier!
Taking Notes with Google Docs
Google has a free suite of tools that you can use for school. Check out the tutorial video below to see how easy it is to take awesome notes with Google Docs! Organize your subjects, chapters, and lessons into neat folders, and share your notes with friends on-the-go!
2. Show Up Prepared
Most professors make class materials available prior to their actual lectures. You should take advantage of this by spending 10-15 minutes reading through what you will be learning about before your lecture. This way, you can focus on understanding the smaller details being explained, while your classmates play catch-up.
3. Listen For Key Words and Phrases
Anybody can just read lecture slides. One of the main reasons you go to class is so that you can discern what your prof thinks is important. Some key phrases include: “this is the important part” “it doesn’t say this on the slides but…” “In my opinion…” “make sure you understand this…” These types of phrases indicate concepts that are more likely to be tested, which gives you a huge advantage on exam day.
4. Put it in Your Own Words
Writing down each and every exact word on the slides means you are mindlessly copying, as opposed to understanding. Try to read/listen and synthesize the information then put it in your own words. This one is a game-changer.
5. Review & Edit Your Notes
In order to truly remember all the information you absorbed during the online lecture, it is a great idea to re-read the notes you took before bed the night of the lecture and again at the end of your school week. While you are reviewing, it is helpful to do things like fix illegible words, highlight concepts that you now realize are more important, use a different colored text to write in explanations that you have looked up since class, and write down questions you still have on the side of the page to ask your prof about later. This 30min per week for each class will seriously improve how much information you retain from lectures.
Are you looking to study smarter? Wize has got you covered! Please check out these links and resources to get you on the right path to success:
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