How to organize your digital school notes

More schools are using learning management systems, such as those that are using Canvas in the Philippines.

Consequently, you should learn how to organize your digital school notes. 

Modern students usually view and complete their assignments and review lessons on tablets and other devices.

Unsurprisingly, they may jot down thoughts and insights on these gadgets, too.

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However, leaving a bunch of random notes on your devices could make it hard to review those thoughts.

Fortunately, you can organize your school notes with these steps:

1. Pick the best note-taking app

You may skip this step if your school’s learning management system has a built-in notes section. Otherwise, ensure you have the best note-taking app.

You may download most for free, such as Microsoft OneNote, Quip and Evernote. Also, your phone may have a note-taking app installed already. 

Whichever you pick, ensure your note-taker lets you add folders and tags so that you can organize your ideas further. 

Free apps may suffice, but you could gain niftier features by spending on the paid versions.

For example, some note-taking apps have optical character recognition.

OCR lets you take pictures of paper notes to convert them into editable, digital school notes.

However, choose reputable note-taking software to prevent potential hacking and malware. 

2. Sort school notes into folders or notebooks

Whether you have a built-in note-taking feature or a third-party app, you should know how to divide school notes into folders or notebooks. 

Create one for each of your subjects, and assign different colors if available so you can find them easily. 

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Then, attach documents, images and other educational materials to the notebooks that belong to the subjects. 

If your note-taking app lets you make subfolders, use those to organize subjects with a lot of content. 

3. Create a table of contents

Your subjects will have numerous lessons per quarter or semester, making it hard to follow which lessons belong to each period. 

Fortunately, you could organize your school notes like a book by adding a table of contents. It’s the page at the beginning of a book that lists all the chapters and their corresponding page numbers. 

You use the table of contents by spotting the chapter you need and then, going to its corresponding page number. 

Nowadays, note-taking apps simplify this process by linking the table of contents to the pages. As a result, you only need to tap on your preferred lesson to display it on the app.

Organizing your school notes with a table of contents will differ, depending on your note-taking platform.

Check your app’s website for more information.

4. Choose a note-taking method

Use a note-taking method to ensure you’re organizing your thoughts the first time you jot them down.

You have many options online, but here are some of the most common:

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• Outline: Educational website E-Student said educational psychologist Kenneth Kiewra promoted the Outline method. It involves organizing school notes into main topics, subtopics and other details. As a result, the Outline Method is ideal for structured classes and lectures.
• Cornell: Cornell University says Education Professor Walter Pauk developed it with a split-page note-taking system. It has a large column for notes, a narrow one for recall, and a bottom for quick summaries. This method is ideal for quick recall of key points.
• Visual: Digital note-taking accessories company Paperlike recommends the visual method or “sketchnoting” for fast and visual learners. It involves drawing school notes into colorful characters and illustrations, instead of jotting them down.

Ensure your gadgets are ready for school by getting the ones with essential features.

Learn how to pick the best smartphone for your needs with this Inquirer Tech article.