10 tips to get you started with OneNote in 2018

Submitted by Fiona Beal

OneNote is one of my favourite applications for keeping organised and I will definitely be making more of this application at my school this year. I have written about OneNote before so I don’t want to repeat myself, but there are a number of reasons why this application has really captured my attention for personal use and use in my lessons.

1. OneNote is free and easy to access

I love the fact that the application is free and that it is a cross platform tool. I can access it from my phone, my tablet and my laptop. You need to have a Microsoft account to access your OneNote. My learners also use OneNote online. Hopefully this year we’ll be accessing Office 365.

2. Use it like an online notebook

I like the way a OneNote notebook resembles a binder. I feel as though I am really organised when I use OneNote. Once you are in OneNote you create a notebook…as many as you like. You can use sections to divide your notes into the categories that you want. You can even choose a colour for each section. Best is you can then divide each section into pages – as many as you want for that section. You can even password protect a section if you want to. This makes for organisation!

3. OneNote embraces multi media

I also love the fact that you can add text, audio, video and drawings to OneNote. You can attach most common files to OneNote as well. If you use OneNote on a touchscreen device such as your phone or a tablet you can use OneNote’s great inking feature to write hand written notes, draw diagrams, or annotate images etc.

4. Add audio notes while you work

While you are busy creating notes you can also add audio and talk about the ideas that come to you as you work – and capture them!

5. Use the OneNote web clip when you surf

I like the idea of using the OneNote web clipper when I surf the net. I mainly use the Chrome browser so I have installed the OneNote Clipper extension. The OneNote Clipper can be used to save any page directly to OneNote without the clutter. All of your clips are saved to the Quick Notes section of your default notebook. You’ll need to install OneNote Clipper and sign in.