Being able to learn and remember the work done in the class is not the only reason why taking notes is an important skill. Note taking is a legitimate learning technique and that develops students’ minds (AllKindsofMinds.org). It turns students into active listeners. They need to convert the chunks of info into summed up sentences and to do it in a limited time frame. That is a great mind workout and students benefit a lot from it. Modern technologies are also taking part in the note taking and their further use. Here are some of the important points about how and why scribbling while you listen.
Old Fashioned Pen and Paper
Some of the Gen Y students prefer typing or even making audio recordings as their notes. These have their good sides, but the truth is, the old fashioned pen and paper are just as useful. They allow you to underline, scribble, doodle and make other types of comments and marks that are understandable to you. Downside is the limited ability to share them and browse them.
Modern Note Taking Gadgets
Today, there are tons of new ways to take notes. One of those ways is to use smart pen and your mobile device. This is an excellent option because it means that you can have the benefits of the plain pen and paper combined with the good sides of digital notes. There are a lot of apps and software that can recognize the handwriting and convert it into the typed text. Digitalized notes are easier to share, save and browse.
Features of High Quality Notes
High quality notes are those that help you learn. They need to be organized and concise and they need to be summed up. Keywords in them need to trigger your memory and remind you of the bigger picture and the whole ideas. There are many suggested techniques for proper note taking. A famous one is the Cornell Method. You divide the paper into two columns. Left is narrower than the right one and it is used only for subtitles while the text body is on the right column. Also, reserve the bottom of the page for summary. A quite similar one is the 2-6 method that does not have the bottom part for the summary and 2 represents the two-inch column on the left, while 6 the six-inch column on the right.
Note Sharing and Comparing
A big part of note taking is sharing them with your friends and fellow students and comparing yours to those that others made. This makes the learning process far easier and much better. Different structures of note taking can show you the things that you may have missed out on. Modern technology made note sharing far easier. You can go online and search for HSC English study notes and get a lot of to choose from.
There are so many different reasons to take your note taking seriously. It will help you great deal with your studies. You will even become smarter and more organized. Moreover, you can also work on your people skills and share and compare your notes. Therefore, learn all the proper techniques and consider using modern gadgets to be more efficient and more up to date.