Note taking has been around since the Bronze Age, with our ancestors using ideographic symbols to convey information before moving onto a more uniform means of communication based on an alphabetic system. Similarly, the tools used for writing began with dirt, stone, metal, or wood and evolved into using pencils, pens with scrolls, tablets, loose-leaf paper, and notebooks. Now we are one and a half decades into the 21st century, where we find this generation of students much more technologically savvy. Why is this noteworthy, pardon the pun? As teachers, we tend to teach the way we were taught, which most likely was taking notes using the more traditional form of pen, pencil, paper, or notebooks. In contrast, the population we are teaching is much more comfortable capturing notes using electronic resources. A major challenge in our jobs is to stay current with new technologies that can be used to enhance and extend learning in our classrooms, so we need to be willing to move outside our comfort zones to actually using these technologies. Instead of asking students to read and annotate with a pencil and paper, we can ask them to read and think with electronic tools that allow them to do more than just add words in the margin. The electronic tools enable students to add notes easily using text, drawings, pictures, audio, or even video. The good news is there are apps for that!

One option for note taking is Microsoft OneNote (available for download via Apple App for free). This app enables the user to create a digital notebook that includes pictures, text files, PowerPoints, PDFs, and links to favorite sites. Files can be synced to the cloud and accessed by laptop, iPhone, iPad, or other device, and your students (and you) can easily share lecture notes. OneNote is also a great productivity tool because of the focus on typing, handwriting notes, and audio recording. Students can organize information by using notebooks, tabs, and pages. You can learn more in this review of OneNote as well as a more detailed beginner’s guide created by Microsoft to help you find your way around the interface.  

Notability by Ginger Labs provides a second option for taking notes. This app is compatible with iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch (available for download via Apple App store for $5.99) and you can find a short tutorial here for creating and annotating notes. With this app, students can create memorable notes by combining handwriting, photos, and audio, and they can mark up PDFs, lecture slides, and forms. This app also provides for storing of files on iCloud along with a way to manage and share notes with friends. 

A third option,GoodReader by Good.iWare.ltd (available via iTunes for $4.99), enables students to access, download, organize, manage, read, and annotate any file that is stored or on the web. The app can quickly connect to remote servers and sync single files or entire folders to the iPad or iPhone. Although GoodReader is technically a file viewer, students can draw directly on the screen with their finger, highlight, and mark up text by adding notes through typewriter text boxes, sticky notes, lines, arrows, and freehand drawings. Additionally, students are able to read, annotate, edit and sign PDF documents; view Microsoft Office software, text files, and HTML files; view pictures; listen to audio files; and watch videos. You might enjoy this 27-minute video review of GoodReader as well as a tutorial of its annotation features.

Note taking has been and still is a valuable tool in helping students enhance and extend their learning.  Now is the time to open up a new world of note taking for both you and your students. OneNote, Notability, and GoodReader are just a few options for getting you started, so explore and enjoy note taking in today’s technological era!

Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez is a professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University. She has been an educator for over 25 years, and her areas of expertise include literacy and technology. Carrice Cummins is a professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University. She has 40 years’ experience as an educator with primary areas of interest in comprehension, content area literacy, and teacher development. She served as the 2012–2013 president of the International Reading Association (now the International Literacy Association). Elizabeth Manning is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University. A veteran K–8 teacher of over 25 years, her areas of interest include content area literacy, writing workshop, and curriculum design and development.

This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association’s Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).