Because of its ability to treat all types of media, OneNote allows teachers and students to mix content from video, audio, still graphics, and text. It allows for both synchronous and asynchronous …
Source: 5 Ways to Use OneNote Class Notebook Creator: PowerUp! Student Learning
Because of its ability to treat all types of media, OneNote allows teachers and students to mix content from video, audio, still graphics, and text. It allows for both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, adjusting easily to the increasingly hectic schedules of student lives. OneNote provides transparent, visible learning with private interactions available through the personalized individual space created through Class Notebook Creator. Five ways in which I use OneNote Class Notebook Creator to PowerUp! student learning:
1. OneNote Class Notebook assigns and organizes the workflow of Home and Expert group learning. Home and Expert group learning personalizes the learning experience to different aspects of a particular content area; for example, in studying the Constitutional Convention, each home group could comprise a state delegation. Then, within this home group, individual students take on roles as experts in a particular area; in our prior example, students might be experts in federal vs. states’ rights, economic issues, social issues, and setting up the system of government. Without OneNote Class Notebook Creator, this learning strategy requires an exacting information management feat. With it, however, the information flow is managed easily. I set up a Class Notebook for each Home Group (rather than for the whole class), with shared space and individual space for each of the student experts. In the shared space, I can publish instructions, resources, etc., and ask them to make contributions as well. Each individual space allows me to tailor information for each expert, asking the expert to personalize their learning, providing private feedback as appropriate. When it’s time to present the learning, the experts together set a shared page that acts as a “wiki” for their learning and can be used as either for presentation, asynchronous study by their classmates, or talking points, depending on the culmination option of the home/expert group activity.
2. OneNote Class Notebook enables delivery of learning that adapts to student learning preferences and psycho-educational differences. As there are many lenses with which to approach learning, I am able to deliver a different style of content to each learner. This different content can then help each learner access and make sense of the learning on the shared space, providing either scaffolding or enrichment as needed. For example, I can provide a lower reading level version of an assignment for those students who might otherwise find the assignment significantly above their zone of proximal development (ZPD), such as English language learners or those with processing challenges. At the same time, I can place a supplemental resource that provides more depth of learning for those students who need or want the extra challenge. By being able to customize the delivery of content to a student’s ZPD and to keep this customization private by using the individual student section, I am able to accommodate differences transparently so that no other student realizes this is happening. I post the assignment in the shared space, but provide the customized content in the private student space. This helps to preserve everyone’s dignity as a learner, while meeting student needs for personalized content.
3. OneNote Class Notebook facilitates Reciprocal Reading, virtually. I have often used Reciprocal Reading in the past as a way of increasing comprehension and retention of complex material. It is sometimes difficult to manage the noise level with a large number of students, which can interfere with the comprehension, especially for students with processing differences. By placing the desired material on the shared space of the Notebook, this management issue is resolved. Each student of the Reciprocal Reading pair can push the document into his/her individual space; then, read their assigned section. The student who is assigned the questioning function, reads and annotates with questions, sharing it with the student tasked with reading more deeply for connections, evaluation, synthesis. Then, both students collaborate by answering the questions, “discussing” it in their notebooks.
4. OneNote Class Notebook makes the use of “flipped” learning livelier, more engaging, and efficient. I set up the desired home learning experience in the shared space, utilizing the microphone to quickly and easily script my comments and/or lecture over the printed notes, the PowerPoint, the video, the image. I can create a custom home learning experience because of the many media options available to me, and I con comment freely on them so that the experience is more engaging. Next is the PowerPoint or Excel quiz in individual student sections, or sometimes a task, such as composing an infographic, to reflect their learning. I can check results the next day before continuing with in-class learning, thus efficiently being able to group students. OneNote and its differentiated students tab sections allow me to create new assignments or inquiries for the students ready to move ahead–they can support one another in their inquiries and work together to deepen their understanding. My face-time is appropriated by students requiring more clarification, with pre-created materials pushed only to their individual spaces, to help them access the content at a level through which they can move forward. While I am working with these students, the students who did not do the “flipped” page with any demonstrable learning have all the materials necessary to do so in class, without taking time away from the other two groups. They do the work they were asked to do originally, and then, move on to either collaborative inquiry or clarification with me, depending on their results.
5. OneNote deepens the reading and comprehension levels of complex text by enabling a Collaboration Wheel experience. The complex text is placed in the shared space (it may be jigsawed or not, for micro-inquiries and teachings by various groups or “wheels”). Each student copies to their individual space and reads individually, highlighting and making/speaking notes as needed. Next, 3-4 students sit with backs to each other, facing out. Another 3-4 students sit facing in, so there is both a hub and a rim of the wheel, with each pair of students being a spoke in the wheel. Using their notes or comments, each pair of students discusses their thinking on the complex text together, focusing on 1-2 essential questions I push out to the shared space. After 3 minutes of discussion, each student privately and individually stops to reflect/synthesize the results of their paired communication, typing in their individual student spaces. The students in the rim rotate to the side and repeat the process 2 more times with a new partner, discussing a new 1-2 questions pushed out to the shared space. While students speak, I take a cursory look at their individual spaces to get the “temperature” on how they’re doing. At the end of 3 pair discussions, the wheel gets together to decide what are the most important points of learning from the text, including providing examples and/or evidence for their points. I continue my look at their individual spaces, to help prepare my comments when we next meet. Each individual student receives homework to add a series of cartoons, a video, a link to a web site, or to another article–they must connect to the main points of learning the “wheel” has constructed. The next class begins with each member of the wheel reading, listening, viewing the contributions of the other members of the wheel. I prepare some closure/clarification comments which are presented to the class. The group then finalizes their understanding of the complex text by finishing/revising their construction of the “wiki” in the shared space.
Five ways–five times the learning. Student constructed, teacher coached, and personalized–21st century learning design with authentic learning and assessment that both encourages collaboration as well as individual responsibility for process and outcome.
Ed-gecation 