by Ethan Yu
Getting Started
Taking notes, or otherwise collecting information during your classes is a important part of the daily life of an IB student and a student in general. Therefore, it is important that students be able to find a method of note taking they find comfortable. Personally, I believe that a note taking method should fit the way a person thinks and not vice versa. Notes are, in essence, a second brain we bring along with us. Therefore, this second brain should mimic the structure of your thoughts as best as possible.
So, What do You Take Notes For?
It is important to understand what are your purposes of taking notes before selecting a method or app. This is important as some applications/methods might not be suitable for some purposes.
Some purposes of taking notes may be:
- To record information during a class
- To organize information in a logical manner
- To help recall concepts and assist in memorization
Also, keep in mind what classes you will be taking when developing a note taking routine. For example, a student who takes typed notes during a class with Mr. Peters might struggle due to the difficulties in typing math (I beg, I beg, do not use LaTeX to take notes during math class). Teachers from RHS present information in different ways and in some cases you might not need to take notes for certain courses.
In general:
- English and Language Acq courses require minimal note taking except for formats and grammar. In many cases the teacher will give a handout.
- History is mostly text based
- Math tends to require custom symbols and diagrams
- Biology is mostly text based with the occasional diagram
- For Chemistry both Yuen and Eastwood hands out note packages which are fill in and additional note taking is usually not needed.
How do you organize information?
idk watch this video lmao uuhhhh it explains better than me
Examples of Note Taking Methods
Physical Note Taking
General Paper Note Taking
Values:
- Drawing and math notes are very easy
- No need for technology
- Many colors
Limitations:
- Can be more difficult to organize
- Slower than typing for the vast majority of people
- Requires you to have actually good/legible handwriting.
Digital Note Taking
Obsidian
Values:
- Highly customizable and can be made to suit the user
- If you have some understanding of Typescript you can add features
- Completely free (you can support the developer for early access)
- Lightweight and runs well on older devices, notes are easily transferred between different platforms
Limitations:
- Nonexistent stylus support means that taking notes during math is a pain
- Offline, so syncing is dependent on the user (or you can pay the devs $8 a month)
- Can be too simplistic due to its bare bones nature, plugins are annoying to configure