Digital Note taking with MS OneNote
How to use this topic page
This topic page is split up into different sections. Each section has a step and an activity to complete. These include scenarios and links off to instructions to try elements for yourself. Each learning unit also has a reflective section to think about how this will be used within your own practice.
Step 1: What is OneNote and how do I access it?
What is OneNote?
OneNote is a versatile digital notebook that allows you to capture, organise, and share information seamlessly. Part of the Microsoft 365 suite, OneNote is accessible across various devices, ensuring your notes are always within reach, whether you’re in the office or in class.
Benefits
- Enhanced organisation – Keep notes, documents and project details all in one place.
- Pairs well with wider software such as Microsoft Planner to keep elements organised and on track.
- Collaborate with multiple staff members in OneNote.
- Flexible with layouts.
- In-depth search functionality due to categorising and tagging.
Activity 1: Access the system.
Visit the link below, read the instructions to learn how to access OneNote via our 365 Microsoft installation. This portal can be used to access all of our Microsoft 365 products for all staff and students.
Step 2: Creating a OneNote
Quick overview of OneNote types
There are fundamentally two different types of OneNote available within the University. This guide will mostly focus on the standard OneNote template, however, all functionality will work with in the second type of OneNote, Class OneNote.
Standard OneNote
Standard OneNote templates are useful for groups or individuals. Think about the content that will go into your OneNote as the software only lets you share all of the Notebook rather than individual pages.
Class OneNote
Class OneNote is used for education purposes and enables you to set up a student and teacher list so that you can share individual sections, pages or areas to particular students, which can be useful for group work.
We will be focussing on the standard OneNote during this topic.
Activity 2: Try it yourself
Creating a new OneNote in the web and in the desktop works slightly differently. The link below will give you access to the 365 Microsoft university of Lincoln portal.
Web
If you are using the web portal, please use the link to our 365 area, click the square of dots in the top-right hand corner and search for OneNote. Then select blank Notebook on the loading page.
Desktop
The desktop version should already be installed on your device. To create a new notebook follow the instructions below. If you have opened OneNote for the first time in desktop it should automatically create you one named after your account name (“name @ University of Lincoln”). We would recommend keeping this as your personal notes rather than sharing this out.
Step 3: Organising your work
Terminology
Section Groups – A group is multiple sections together. e.g. an group could be called Projects which then opens up to the individual project sections.
Section – In OneNote this is a group of page related to a topic collated together e.g. a section for each project
Pages – An individual page which is linked to a section area. e.g. Project brief, timeline maybe within a particular project section.
Subpages – Multiple individual pages which are related to a page. e.g. a further breakdown of the brief into key sections
Organise your notes
OneNote enables you to separate up your notes into groups, sections, pages and subpages to support you with finding key information quickly and efficiently. For example
Amelia has several different projects on going as well as meeting minutes she wants to keep track of. To help with this they organise their notes in the following way.
Section group: Projects
Sections: Project 1, Project 2, Project 3
Pages: Each project has a project brief, timeline, SWOT analysis and Cost/Benefit analysis.
Subpages: Each project brief break down into 6 different key areas.
This layout is consistent across the team and everyone who is involved sets up their pages for projects based on this template. This also ensures that the team all use the same language and initial project approach throughout the department.
Activity 3: Try it for yourself
Visit the link below, read the initial page about adding a task to your plan. Once you have understood this step, read about the different details you can add to the task:
- Setting and updating task progress.
- Adding start and due dates.
- Assigning someone to a task.
Step 4: Adding Content
What content can I add within OneNote?
OneNote acts like a notebook or whiteboard, content can be placed anywhere on each page. So you can freely organise and re-arrange content based on your needs. There are a wide variety of different ways to add content.
Tables:
You can use tables within OneNote to help organise and structure content. This works the same as within Word and Powerpoint. However, it can be useful to add headings to the columns to make it easy to read and understand.
Pictures
Pictures, scanned images and screen clippings can all be added into OneNote to help explain elements. However, Alt-text for the images should be provided to ensure accessibility is met.
Files
Files can be added as an attachment, which just links to the location of the file (sharing permissions may need to be given dependent on where the file is stored). You can also add it as a printout, which shows an image of each of the different pages within a file.
Drawings and annotations
With the draw tab you can add shapes, text and use pens to draw. This can be useful to highlight key parts of text or write some different elements.
Extra tip: if you use the pen tool to write or draw. You can select the content and use the ‘ink to shape’ or ‘ink to text’ to turn it into normal text that is editable.
Activity 4: Try it yourself
This page covers the basics of adding or inserting content within OneNote. What content do you think would be relevant to add for your area? Follow the guide below to find out how to add a variety of content to your pages.
Step 5: Tagging and Searching
Tagging
Tags are used within OneNote to help identify different types of content or items that you use to search and collate content. Within the web version you have to use the tags that are provided, however, in the desktop version you will be able to create custom tags and icons which provides more flexibility.
Searching
Within the web version you can only search for individual pages or sections. Whereas in the desktop version you can search using tags. Coming up with a strategy to help with searching can be a useful discussion to ensure that people are using the same approach consistently across the team.
Activity 5: Scenario & help
Read through this scenario and think about the question below. Click on the answer button to find out an example solution.
Amari has been using OneNote for many years and has used it to support themselves through multiple projects. This started as a personal OneNote but Amari has been encouraged to share this with the wider group so that they can utilise the information. They are now sharing this OneNote with wider groups who do not know Amari’s approach to using OneNote and finding it very difficult to find information effectively.
What could the team do to make the OneNote work for them as a group?
What recommended functions within the software could they use to help with organisation and identifying key info.
Supporting guides
Step 6: Sharing with colleagues
What do I need to know before I share?
Please be aware that when sharing a notebook with colleagues they will have access to all content in that OneNote. When you first start OneNote desktop you will automatically have a personal OneNote created. We do not recommend sharing this with wider groups.
Instead it is worthwhile planning out how a OneNote will be used with groups if it is intended to be shared. That way we can ensure sensitive and potentially personal data is kept secure and it will also help to make the OneNote shared more useful to the groups involved.
Password Protection
It is possible to password protect pages within a OneNote so that it can’t be seen without a password. This can be useful to make sure people can only see data they need.
Sharing with a Microsoft Team group
It may be useful to share OneNote, where appropriate, with a teams group. To do so, use the sharing guide and type in the name of the teams group. This will make sure that data is easily accessible and won’t be lost as multiple people have access through the cloud.
Activity 6: Try it yourself
How to share
You can share the entire notebook with colleagues using the usual sharing approach built within Microsoft. The page below will outline the multiple options available to you.
Step 7: Reflection
What have I learnt from this learning topic?
This step is designed to help you think about what you have learned and how this applies to your own practice and context. Learning Activity 7 will ask you some questions to help you with this reflection.
Activity 7: Reflect
Use the following questions to help you think about your own practice.
- How will a OneNote be used with in your area?
- Are there key bits of information which would be useful for all members of our team to have access to?
- Are there any specific features you feel would be useful for you as an individual?
- What approach and features will you use as a team to ensure consistency across the Notebook?
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