The class room is a place where students have long jotted down notes as educators lecture, but it is not the only time or place where this is an important skill. Any situation where knowledge is being conveyed can be a place to take notes for later study or recollection, and there are now a variety of ways to accomplish this important learning task. It can be done with pen and paper, but the digital world brings tools to the study table.
Writing down notes has been the traditional way to record small blocks of important information, and it is still used today. For some students, the act of writing helps them retain knowledge better. Others use it as a way to jog their memory at a later time. Writing down notes is also good for those who want to branch out in their studies, and paper notes can be used as the basis for a brainstorming session.
Electronic devices are now a major source of information retrieval, and they have not neglected the art of taking down notes. Students can copy and paste the information they want to save into word documents, and there are online resources to save links with comments. Subscribing to these services or using the available tools helps them in the same way paper notes have been used for centuries. It further offers the ability to link to new sources at a later time.
Note taking is not always about writing things down. Students who are interested in learning a subject will often make mental notes when they see of experience new things, so their note taking is more of a mental exercise in observation. If they attach special significance to what they have seen or heard, their ability to retain and access it at a later time might be enhanced if they use this skill on a regular basis.
