Great notes greater learning

Editor's Notes

• #3: Effective note-taking is a valuable skill for retaining, remembering, reciting and recalling information. Without good notes you might sit through an entire subject and not have anything to prepare you for the final exams or assessment tasks. Taking notes is only half the battle. If you learn how to take great notes this will help you apply knowledge and retain material.
• #5: Organize yourself prior to your note-taking engagement.Make sure to bring everything that you will need to be a good listener and a great note-taker. Know what the focus isWhich part of the course. What theme or topic. What will this lead to.Don’t forget ample paper, writing utensils and, if relevant, make sure your technology is charged! Always have a backup pen or pencil, preferably two or three.ALWAYS, ALWAYS SAVE!
• #6: Learn to highlight.Identify the main points.Use a couple of colours- Two should be enough. One for main points One for sub points or interesting facts.
• #7: Focus on recording information that is new to you.As tempting as it might be, taking notes about stuff you already know doesn’t end up helping much in the end.
• #8: Create a system that allows you to write quickly get down basic concepts and allow you to quickly find information later.Consider using an outline formatSeparate your notes into different sections. Create your own “abbreviations” and “symbols” to help take notes a little faster.
• #9: Key words, Phrases and Concepts.Make the important things stand out. If the speaker emphasizes a certain concept, make sure to do the same in your notes.Don’t try and record everythingThere is a good chance that Extra Reading may be given, referenced or made available laterUse short and meaningful phrases, and abbreviate when necessary. Don’t use abbreviations that you won’t recognize later.
• #10: Get Your Doddle Out!.Use Symbolsarrows, dots, boxes, diagrams, charts, and other visual notes are often great ways to associate and remember key concepts.Draw picturesDon’t just rely on words…. Many of us are very visual learnersLearn more about Visual Note Taking HereVisual Note Takinghttp://www.visualnotetaking.net/Austin Kleonhttp://austinkleon.com/category/visual-note-taking/Doodle Revolutionhttp://sunnibrown.com/doodlerevolution/Dan Roamhttp://www.danroam.com/
• #11: Write your notes for the future.Recognize that you will have to return to the notes later and understand your notes. Review your notes as the speaker communicates familiar material. Go back and review them immediately after the lecture, when the topics are fresh in your mind.If possible be able to locate the speaker or content …… website, blog, book etc… for future reference
• #12: Share your notes with others.Share notes to increase your materials and to enhance your learning. It will often motivate you to take copious notes that are legible and understandable.You might have missed somethingOther people can see things differently, which can help improve your understanding
• #13: If you are reading from printed material, make sure you have a pack of Post-It notes at hand! If it IS yours just write in the actual book.Use Post Its to make connections with what you readAsk questionsRecord your personal thoughts
• #14: Try to make your notes as attractive as possible…Write in different coloursdraw/ paste illustrations. Write differently. Make the titles wavyChange your font, just for a change.…so you would like to read them later.
• #15: Look carefully at what you read and Listen carefully to what you seeIf the speaker / write repeats something more than twice, then it's probably important and worth paying attention to.Look at the visuals a speaker uses…. Visual imagery is very powerfulConsider why a writer has used visual material like Graphs, Cartoons etc…
• #16: Tech Tip – Make the most of your deviceLearn how to use Evernote or One NoteHave a System to SAVE and ORGANISEDevelop some Naming Conventions