No matter your major or your learning style, one of the most important and challenging parts of college across the board is note-taking. Thankfully, technology can offer a helping hand.
Note-taking: the foundation for college
Getting everything the professor says in class, while also paying attention, can be difficult. If you have trouble multitasking, or simply learn better through experience rather than as an auditory or visual learner, then taking notes may be a major hurdle to get past in the college experience.
Thankfully, a number of apps and methods can ease this struggle. In fact, one old-fashioned way -- recording lectures -- can actually be done better nowadays, and can benefit students greatly!
A better way to record notes
Many students record lectures to revisit later. In fact, recording learning material allows some students to be competitive with the learning styles of their peers.
However, navigating long recordings can be daunting, and these huge files can take up lots of space on a device. For this, Cogi is a great alternative -- this app allows you to easily start and stop when you want to record something, instead of recording the entire lecture. It's low bandwidth and small in size, and also easy to navigate.
Methods to help dyslexic note-takers
This recording app is particularly helpful when it comes to students with learning disabilities. With Cogi, students can have the information mapped out in a manner that simplifies the content.
While this method results in an unorthodox mind map for many neurotypical people, it can be helpful for students with certain learning disabilities. For example, these mind maps are easier for a student with dyslexia to read -- they because they arrange information by association rather than by conversations.
So instead of paragraph-formatted notes or outlines, they can use this organization of material to understand it in a way that works better for their brain.
Key Takeaways:
A personal story
As a college graduate and teacher, I've personally benefited from recording my class lectures. Not only did I learn from listening to the lectures in class, but also when played back later when studying!
While there are other expensive note-taking apps and resources on the market, being on a tight college budget is tough, so it's important to find free or inexpensive alternatives like Cogi.
Even though it requires discipline and organization, I highly recommend this technique to my students. It's easy to get distracted in class and miss key components from the lectures.
Anoter way to help with reading or comprehension difficulty is by identifying which micro-skills need strengthening. You can do this through the Learning Success System -- increase your reading ability by taking our free assessment here!
Do You Need help with a Learning Difficulty?
Our simple online analysis will help you get to the core of the problem and find the right solution for you.
Understanding how to help someone with a learning difficulty starts with understanding which micro-skills are affected. When you learn which of the micro-skills is the problem, you will then be on your way to solving it.
You'll also learn how to:
- Build confidence
- Enhance Learning ability
- Eliminate avoidance
- Build grit
You can get this analysis for free by filling out this simple form. This will help you get to the bottom of a learning difficulty and provide you with a solution. If you are ready to put this problem behind you click the button below and fill out the form.
