6 Tips For Taking Notes On An iPad (From A Straight-A Student)

What I Wish I Knew Two Years Ago

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Two things helped me get straight A's in high school: my iPad and Chegg (for graduation purposes, this is a joke).

I didn't take easy classes either—I've taken courses like AP Chemistry, AP Physics, Multivariable Calculus, and Linear Algebra.

I've used an iPad to take notes for the past three school years. Over this time, I've made a lot of mistakes (it took me a while to realize that spending time designing notes instead of taking notes wasn't a great idea).

Here are six note-taking tips I've learned, both as an iPad user and as a student.

Take a note-taking personality quiz

Different people take notes differently.

My friend loves the outline method. Every middle school teacher I had loved Cornell notes. I find a flowchart/spider diagram style most effective.

Explore different note-taking methods. What works for a YouTuber with one million subscribers might not work for you.

Key tip: pick something challenging. Note-taking isn't helpful unless you actually learn something, either by connecting ideas, asking questions, etc (this is why I dislike the outline method).

Also take a note-taking app personality quiz

The same idea works for note-taking apps.

At some point, I've used each of the following apps to take notes on my iPad: GoodNotes, OneNote, Nebo, Apple Notes, KiloNotes, Concepts, CollaNote, Feyn, Notion, Craft, Amplenote, and Google Docs (there's probably a few more I'm forgetting).

Explore different apps. Even if you don't want to pay any money, there are tons of free apps out there. As you explore, remember that different apps suit different note-taking styles (Cornell notes in GoodNotes >>> Cornell notes in Apple Notes).

Quizlet-ify your notes

Active recall is the idea of forcing yourself to recall information (like flashcards or Quizlet).

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As an incredibly effective study method, you should either directly or indirectly incorporate active recall in your notes. If you opt for a note-taking method like the Cornell method, active recall is already built into your notes. If you opt for a method like the outline method, it's fairly easy to convert your notes into flashcards with apps like Feyn, SmartCards+, Quizlet, etc.

While note-taking is great for understanding concepts, you need active recall to make them stick.

Remember: these are notes

There's a mistake many people fall into when taking notes on an iPad: designing notes ≠ taking notes.

Find a note-taking style you enjoy, but don't spend too much time making your notes look good.

There's nothing wrong with taking notes in a fun way—I've done this countless times. Just don't spend an unnecessarily long time on your notes (if note-taking is affecting your sleep schedule, something has to change).

Continue your exploration

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash

Don't settle with a note-taking method or note-taking app unless you've found something that's perfect for you.

Most people have room to improve, and exploring different note-taking methods can expand your learning potential.

I constantly try new note-taking methods for different classes (the style that works for Econ usually doesn't work for Gov). Not all classes are the same, and classes with different levels of emphasis on memorization and concepts require different notes.

Don't underestimate the power of typed notes

Photo from GIPHY

A lot of people see an iPad and think that they have to use handwritten notes.

Sometimes, however, typed notes can be better:

•  In lectures where content is discussed rapidly, you might not be able to keep up with handwritten notes. Typed notes can help you keep track of what the lecturer is saying.

•  In classes entirely based on memorization, it's usually more efficient to take "flashcard notes" (make flashcards instead of taking traditional notes).

If you want to use typed notes, here are some apps you can check out:

•  Notion

•  Document editors (Google Docs, Pages, Word)

•  Flashcard apps (SmartCards+, Mochi, Anki, etc.)

Final Thoughts

"The iPad...has been the single most valuable investment I have made"—Kharma Medic

Thanks for reading!

Adi