Digital Tools: Outlook, OneNote, Padlet & Mentimeter

Microsoft OneNote is available to all students as part of the University's Microsoft 365 package. 

The aim of this resource is to:

• demonstrate how to access and log in to OneNote
• present strategies to structure and organise notes within a OneNote notebook
• demonstrate tools to help you create interesting and time-saving multimedia notes using different notemaking styles
• highlight the benefits of using OneNote for lecture, reading and research notes
• introduce the difference between a Class Notebook and a personal notebook

• Log in to Microsoft 365 with your university email and password. Click on the OneNote icon on the left-hand side to open a list of your OneNote notebooks. If you haven’t created one before, click on ‘New notebook’.
• Search ‘OneNote’ in Google and click on the top results to open the OneNote website page or sign in directly. The Microsoft account details you need to use to sign in are your university email and password.
• If you have a personal Microsoft 365 account, your computer may automatically log you in using this account. Check you are logged in with your university email by clicking on your profile picture on the Office 365 homepage. You should use your university Microsoft 365 account for university-related work, and not a personal account.
• You can download and install OneNote as an app on your laptop or computer by clicking ‘Install Office’ on the Microsoft 365 home page, and 'download the Microsoft 365 apps. Alternatively, to just download OneNote (instead of all the apps that come included with Microsoft 365, like Word, PowerPoint, OneDrive etc.) you can download it directly from onenote.com/download. 

• OneNote notes are structured as notebooks, sections, pages and subpages.
• You could choose to use one notebook for each academic year, or term of study and organise your notes for each module using sections. Use one section for each module and break down that module’s notes into pages and subpages for different weeks, topics, or classes, as shown in the video.
• Use different notebooks or sections for lecture notes, reading and research notes, and revision notes.
• You can reorder sections, pages and subpages by clicking on them and dragging to move them.
• The magnifying glass icon allows you to search for keywords in your notes, either throughout a particular page or section.

Whichever notemaking styles you prefer to use, OneNote has a number of functions available to make interesting and engaging notes. 

• Use checkboxes to create to do lists for homework or other tasks, like marking off what material you have already read in your reading list.
• Use the highlighter tool to highlight text in different colours.
• Add hyperlinks for fast access to ELE module pages or important online resources.
• Write or record a summary of your notes. Summaries are an effective way to recap a topic. You can create one at the end of a lecture, a topic or a week.
• Use Draw to create mind maps, link together ideas and write out equations. Practice solving similar equations with the Math function.
• Dictate your notes by talking and save time by having OneNote type them out for you.
• Use OneNote Web Clipper to save extracts or full webpages to OneNote and annotate them easily.

• If your lecturer shares or uploads PowerPoint slides to ELE, you can insert them into your OneNote and annotate around them. This will mean you can focus more on what the lecturer is saying rather than trying to write down what is on the slides.
• Make sure the slides are saved as a PDF (if they’ve been uploaded as a PowerPoint file, download them, click Save as and choose PDF in the dropdown box for file type).
• Insert them into your OneNote notes, delete any slides you don't want or need and resize each one to give you space to type notes around them.

• Insert PDF articles or text extracts into your OneNote notes so that you can easily annotate your reading material.
• Use different colours fonts or styles to distinguish between the ideas of the author(s) and your own ideas. Make sure you add the reference for the article or material you’re using.
• Highlight useful or important quotations and write down the page numbers so you can find them easily later when you come to writing.

• A class notebook will look slightly different to a personal notebook. You may be invited to use a class notebook for a particular module or for academic personal tutoring meetings.
• A number of sections will have already been created by the teacher. Most of these are 'read only' so you won't be able to edit them.
• The Welcome space will have important news, notices and key information the tutor wants to share with you. The Collaborative Space acts like an interactive whiteboard where everyone with access to the class notebook can collaborate in one place. In the Content Library, the tutor will include information, instructions or materials like links to videos, reading sources, etc. 
• You also have a personal space where you can make notes. You can create new sections and pages within this tab and only you and the teacher will see what you put here.

• If you’re in your final year, you may want to download your OneNote notes and take them with you when you leave.
• Export your notes from a personal OneNote notebook as a Word document, PDF or OneNote package (which allows you to move your university OneNote notebooks to a personal OneNote account).
• Download a copy of your work from a Class Notebook. 

• Easy retrieval - Your notes are organised and structured, which makes it easy to go back to certain topics or areas of research when you’re revising or writing an essay.
• Searchable - You can find information quickly by clicking the magnifying glass icon and searching for key words.
• Time saving - Importing PowerPoint slides gives you more time to focus on what the lecturer is saying rather than trying to write down what is on each slide.
• Backed up - OneNote notes are synced and stored to the Cloud online, which means you can access them from any device and don’t have to worry about your work being lost if your laptop breaks or gets stolen. This is particularly important if you’ve spent weeks or months working on a big piece of work like a dissertation or final project.