When I think of note-taking, I think about my students recording information for a research project of some sort. Currently, most students take notes on large index cards with pre-printed spaces for the research question, sub-topic, and source information. In theory, these note cards are an excellent idea, but in practice, I find them to be quite frustrating because one size does not fit all. There are pre-printed spaces that I often tell students to leave blank, and that can get confusing for elementary-age students. Upon reflection, I began to question why I preferred the notecards, and if it were just that: MY preference. I have been doing some soul-searching. Maybe today's students will need to be able to take notes digitally. Beyond that, though, I realize that I was thinking about note-taking in a very narrow manner. I didn't consider bookmarking/curation sites as "note-taking" tools. I can absolutely see how they can be considered as such now, but it surprised me.
I have been using Google Keep on my phone since I switched to an android phone several years ago. One of the features I really like is the reminder feature. I have several friends' birthdays set as reminders, and I get a reminder a few days ahead of time every year. So much better than relying on Facebook! I have also used it to create grocery lists, which has been very handy. I like some of the new features I've seen, including labels. I do wonder why they didn't just call them tags, but oh well! With this Thing, though, I spent some time exploring the desktop version - more specifically the Chrome extension. I am very impressed! At the end of this schoolt year, I agreed to test a touchscreen Dell as a replacement for my Mac. I was worried about the learning curve, but as it turns out, I love it! This is relevant to this discussion because Keep has the ability to save a drawn note! I can just open a note and draw or write with my finger on the touchscreen! So cool! I have made a to do list in Google Keep - which I will not share because it is embarrassing to be thinking about all that needs to be done to prepare for a new school year the first week of vacation. I love that I can indent lists and use check boxes to keep track of what I have done. There is something very satisfying in crossing something off a list, which cannot be matched by simply deleting it.
As I worked through these tools and articles, I could not help but return to my initial premise that digital note-taking is inferior to handwritten notes. I wonder if we are at one of those points when the teachers are forcing students to hold on to an old method because it is what we know. I wonder if it is my job to teach students how to successfully take notes digitally. Are there different strategies that can be employed to make digital reading and note-taking more effective?
I think there's a place for both digital and handwritten notes, some people just prefer one over the other.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, it is our part of our job to help students take useful notes, in whatever format works best for them. Just copying and pasting without reading and reflecting just doesn't cut it, unless you're just trying to quickly save some content to review later. When I'm reading something online, I often copy and paste a paragraph and write my reactions. When there was no "online", those notes might have been written in the margin or in a notebook. That still works! But harder to organize later on.
I've also seen people do the "scoop and spit" approach with paper notes. When I worked at RPI, we used to audit classes now and then. One friend was obsessive about writing down almost everything the instructor said, almost word for word. She felt it worked for her.
Introducing multiple strategies and tools, then letting students pick what works for them probably works best for middle school and up. Elementary? More structure?