Useful OneNote Features for Vet School

[Armymutt25A]

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Quick admin question. I haven't used ON in reality, so I don't have anything to go on. Do most of you create separate notebook for each class and then subdivide the class using the tabs at the top, or do you just use one notebook for a semester and have a tab for each class? The latter was my original approach, but then I started thinking about the volume of notes and the ability to quickly find the material I needed to study. Further, if you do divide each class, how do you determine where to make the breaks? Is it by test or by topic?

 

[cowgirla]

Quick admin question. I haven't used ON in reality, so I don't have anything to go on. Do most of you create separate notebook for each class and then subdivide the class using the tabs at the top, or do you just use one notebook for a semester and have a tab for each class? The latter was my original approach, but then I started thinking about the volume of notes and the ability to quickly find the material I needed to study. Further, if you do divide each class, how do you determine where to make the breaks? Is it by test or by topic?

I have a Year 1 notebook divided into spring and fall semesters. Each semester is divided into classes via the tabs at the top (you can group the individial tabs into bigger folders), and you can create more divisions down the left hand side. Some classes I create a page a week, some classes a page a class. I generally divide by exam, and then I can "hide" the subfolders after the exam is older. It depends on the class though-- for Histo I went by topic, and for physiology I do "general topic" and then just make a note of where exam material ends.

So, if I'm looking for an individual page- I click year 1, then click the semester I want which opens up all the tabs for that semesters classes at the top. For some classes, I have it divided even further (lab/lecture) so there's 3-4 subfolders altogether before I get to my actual note pages.

I don't have any problems finding the material I need to study- when you open onenote it automatically goes to whatever page you were last looking at before the program closed, so you arent always clicking and scrolling to get to your actual notes. When I open the program, all my spring 2011 are right there so it only takes 1 click to get to a specific class.

And the search feature dfinitely comes in handy CTRL+F or CTRL+E will find you anything you want.

 

[BlacKAT33]

This is a good question! lol it took me a couple days to figure out what was best for me. At first I thought I would do a notebook per semester, but then when I realized I had about 7 classes for a semester it was getting too cluttered.

So I do a notebook per class. On the left side of the screen I have all the notebooks for each semester/quarter. So lets say I click on my neuroscience notebook, then I make one tab for the syllabus, and maybe 1-2 more tabs for stuff I will be going back to all semester like lab schedules or projects. Then if you right click on a tab you can click on New Section Group. This basically creates 1 tab that has multiple sections inside of it (at the top). In each of these sections you can also have another inner layer of tabs on the right side (but visually i dont really like these tabs, so when my section group gets full I make another section group). Each section group is arranged with lectures. So about 10-15 lectures per group and at top I label them "Lectures 1-10" etc. I label the tabs with the lecture name.

This is really confusing to read i'm sure lol I will post a picture if I can. But once you mess around with it for a month or so you'll find out what works best for you.

At the end of the semester I realized i needed to add another 7 classes for 3rd quarter, and i was like I dont want these notebooks from first semester showing up! So I figured out you can "close notebook" and it just takes it off the front screen. But no worries, you can later go back to File-Open and click on the notebook and it comes back to the front screen again!

Man, i LOVEEE one note 🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

http://imgur.com/Ks1cV?full&size=
Front Page of my Histo Notebook: Notice other notebooks with a pull out tab on the left, you can make them horizontal or vertical depending on how much space you want to save. I like to maximize their space so I have them vertical (that is why you can only see a couple of the notebooks). Then like I said I have my main stuff like syllabus, vocab, study guides etc on the front. Section tabs later on that contain each lecture. If you look on the right side, notice how there are 2 tabs--these are the tabs I said are available to you as a "third layer of tabs" but I don't use them. I feel like I'd forget to look at certain notes if I used 3 layers deep lol


http://imgur.com/zq5XE?full
Inside my section group: I also put it on a page where I had a drawing. Its so easy to insert w/e you want inside the notes!

edit:
examples of how i use onenote for labs, it has really helped me remember things i may have learned in the beginning of the semester and then never look at again til the final lol (importing pictures from our learning website, labeling, and importing my own pictures i took in anatomy lab)
[edited out link for fear i broke some rule about the anatomy picture]

 

[Armymutt25A]

I kind of like the idea of one notebook per class. I can make the first tab a TO DO list if there is some important admin info. Now I have to go back and redo everything! Oh well, not much else to do besides hang out under water.

 

[Lissarae06]

I did a notebook per class first semester and didn't like it. I switched to one notebook for the semester divided up into classes and liked it so much better.

 

[BlacKAT33]

I did a notebook per class first semester and didn't like it. I switched to one notebook for the semester divided up into classes and liked it so much better.

i dont know how you fit all your lectures in that way lol but hey, if it works for u! 😀

if you don't mind posting a pic of it i'd be really interested. i'm always looking for the best way to organize!

 

[StartingoverVet]

edit:
examples of how i use onenote for labs, it has really helped me remember things i may have learned in the beginning of the semester and then never look at again til the final lol (importing pictures from our learning website, labeling, and importing my own pictures i took in anatomy lab)
http://imgur.com/a/kQqgF

Who is your photographer? That picture of the hindleg is great. I tried doing that and it was a disaster. Just looked like a hunk of meat.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Who is your photographer? That picture of the hindleg is great. I tried doing that and it was a disaster. Just looked like a hunk of meat.

haha you won't believe it. that was actually cathy d. using her laptop camera!!! she would hold the whole laptop up awkwardly to try to get a good angle lol it was a last minute "OMG FINAL IS THIS WEEK WE NEED PICS BEFORE THE LAB CLOSES" haha

oh also, we learned that you can't zoom in too much, you need to be out far enough you can see which leg it is and the positioning. So this pic actually wasn't one of the best but at least you can tell which leg it is so i was able to label it correctly before i forgot!! lol

 

[Pelagia]

Since this thread is getting bumped, I just wanted to add that I freakin love onenote. I can't believe I've had it for less than two months...because I depend on it sooo much now! It's been perfect for planning my move (which is coming up so soon....ahhh!).

A feature I really like is using "ctrl + 1" to make little check boxes next to items to make to-do lists.

And to contribute to the topic at hand, I've found what works for me is having one notebook with multiple tabs. I'm planning on doing something similar for school, i.e., having a "First Year" notebook with tabs for different subjects (anatomy, physiology, etc) and each page within the tab will be a different lecture.

 

[Coquette22]

haha you won't believe it. that was actually cathy d. using her laptop camera!!! she would hold the whole laptop up awkwardly to try to get a good angle lol it was a last minute "OMG FINAL IS THIS WEEK WE NEED PICS BEFORE THE LAB CLOSES" haha

Really? The quality is really good. I wonder if I could do similar things with my netbook. I've never considered it. How do you do handwritten notes in OneNote? Do you use a tablet? My handwriting sucks, and luckily, I don't have to label things at this point in my academic life, so it hasn't been an issue yet, but it is something I think about now and then.

(Thanks for the histo shot too. It seems the human histology course I took won't be totally useless after all since I recognize some of that stuff!)

 

[BlacKAT33]

Really? The quality is really good. I wonder if I could do similar things with my netbook. I've never considered it. How do you do handwritten notes in OneNote? Do you use a tablet? My handwriting sucks, and luckily, I don't have to label things at this point in my academic life, so it hasn't been an issue yet, but it is something I think about now and then.

(Thanks for the histo shot too. It seems the human histology course I took won't be totally useless after all since I recognize some of that stuff!)

Yea I have the lenovo x200 tabel 😍 My handwriting usually looks better but i guess it is still partially readable in my panic writing mode lol If I have more time to spare i usually label with text and the labeling arrow (like in the brain specimen).

Histology is DEFINITELY useful!! Part of the reason I struggled so much in histo last fall is because I didn't fully understand wtf I was looking at lol. I finally pieced it all together at the end of the semester (great timing haha). The pic in that link is from neuroscience--brain nuclei, fun!! haha Not sure if you did that in your histo class but if you did that is awesome. It also took me until the midterm in neuro to figure out what i was memorizing on these brain cross sections lol

 

[Coquette22]

Histology is DEFINITELY useful!! Part of the reason I struggled so much in histo last fall is because I didn't fully understand wtf I was looking at lol. I finally pieced it all together at the end of the semester (great timing haha). The pic in that link is from neuroscience--brain nuclei, fun!! haha Not sure if you did that in your histo class but if you did that is awesome. It also took me until the midterm in neuro to figure out what i was memorizing on these brain cross sections lol

Sadly, no neuro histology. I'm hoping it comes up a little in Systems Neuroscience next year. Histology covered GI tract, respiratory, epithelial and connective tissue, urinary and a smidgen of immune cells.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Sadly, no neuro histology. I'm hoping it comes up a little in Systems Neuroscience next year. Histology covered GI tract, respiratory, epithelial and connective tissue, urinary and a smidgen of immune cells.

you may be able to get exempt!

 

[Coquette22]

you may be able to get exempt!

Not likely, it was a year or so ago and I'm not right up on the material. Besides, don't get ahead of yourself, I haven't even been accepted yet!

 

[BlacKAT33]

Not likely, it was a year or so ago and I'm not right up on the material. Besides, don't get ahead of yourself, I haven't even been accepted yet!

LOL its funny, i just assume everyone on SDN will get accepted whether it takes 2,3,4...5++ tries!

 

[lareinesoleil]

Do any of you have any experience with OneNote substitutes for Mac? I see that there are some out there (CircusPonies, EverNote, etc), but I was wondering if any of them were worth it. It sure would be a lot easier than paralleling Windows on my Mac...or buying a netbook for just one program...

 

[squibby]

You can download trial versions of all of the alternative programs, and even OneNote if you have a pc, and try them out for yourself. I have been doing this for the past few days and haven't found one that I've liked or that measures up to OneNote. The closest I've found in Zengobi's Curio, but it can't link the audio recording to your place in the notes, so it isn't perfect.

 

[HopefulAg]

you may be able to get exempt!

Y'all can get exempt from your classes?

Who is your photographer? That picture of the hindleg is great. I tried doing that and it was a disaster. Just looked like a hunk of meat.

Y'all get to take pictures of your cadavers?! Freaking jealous, man. We had to use external websites if we wanted to see anything outside of lab.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Y'all can get exempt from your classes?



Y'all get to take pictures of your cadavers?! Freaking jealous, man. We had to use external websites if we wanted to see anything outside of lab.

Yes and yes (if we don't post them anywhere). 😛

Of course I am exempt from nothing (deservedly), and obviously the pictures don't help so not sure what you are jealous of exactly.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Y'all can get exempt from your classes?



Y'all get to take pictures of your cadavers?! Freaking jealous, man. We had to use external websites if we wanted to see anything outside of lab.

lol you guys are all making me nervous about the example link i posted 😛

like we said earlier though, no one takes pics because it is more annoying than it is worth. you forget to label things and then you can't figure out what you were looking at. Its much easier to just use the videos they make for us or the anatomy website.

and yea, you can get exempt from classes if you show them your syllabus, text book you used, basically all ur course info and i think you have to have gotten an A? maybe it depends on the class. Some courses are impossible to get exempt from though. (Like biochem) the only person in our class who was able to get exempt from biochem was gellabella and that was because she has a PhD but she still had to meet with them about it since her PhD wasn't directly a biochem project.
You also don't get credit if you choose to be exempt. So you'll need to take more electives during third year to catch up

 

[HopefulAg]

There's people in our class that took our Physiology class just last year during the non-thesis masters who had to re-take it this year. Exact same class since they put the masters and vet students together for it.

 

[CountThePetals]

So after hearing all the wonderful things about OneNote I finally decided to check it out. Little did I know, I had this software the whole time. I guess it came with my student office suite and I just didn't bother to check it out. After playing around with it for ten minutes I realized how amazing it would be to utilize in class.

I have a few questions though! With the recording, how good is the sound quality? I know this probably relies more on the hardware than anything. But for those of you who use it often, do you find yourself having to sit up front? Is it useless if you're in the middle of a huge stadium lecture hall?

Also I know there have been lots of good things said about using it with the Lenovo tablets... Has anyone tried it with an HP Slate?

Thanks 🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

So after hearing all the wonderful things about OneNote I finally decided to check it out. Little did I know, I had this software the whole time. I guess it came with my student office suite and I just didn't bother to check it out. After playing around with it for ten minutes I realized how amazing it would be to utilize in class.

I have a few questions though! With the recording, how good is the sound quality? I know this probably relies more on the hardware than anything. But for those of you who use it often, do you find yourself having to sit up front? Is it useless if you're in the middle of a huge stadium lecture hall?

Also I know there have been lots of good things said about using it with the Lenovo tablets... Has anyone tried it with an HP Slate?

Thanks 🙂

I think it works great, I think it completely depends on your computer though not OneNote. We have a big lecture hall. i like how you say huge stadium lecture hall lol. When I think of that, i literally think of a big stadium like my undergrad basketball stadium. Aren't most lecture halls similar style? If you have 75+ students I'm sure our lecture halls are the same. Ours can fit about 130 people. I wouldn't sit in the very last row though. Our professors also the microphones that clip onto their shirts so their voice is pretty loud

 

[JSpitz]

So after hearing all the wonderful things about OneNote I finally decided to check it out. Little did I know, I had this software the whole time. I guess it came with my student office suite and I just didn't bother to check it out. After playing around with it for ten minutes I realized how amazing it would be to utilize in class.

I have a few questions though! With the recording, how good is the sound quality? I know this probably relies more on the hardware than anything. But for those of you who use it often, do you find yourself having to sit up front? Is it useless if you're in the middle of a huge stadium lecture hall?

Also I know there have been lots of good things said about using it with the Lenovo tablets... Has anyone tried it with an HP Slate?

Thanks 🙂

i didn't use onenote in undergrad, but i've seen kids use it in 350 people capacity lecture halls. they tend to sit within the first 5-7 rows (this is with the lecturer using a microphone). the lecturer speakers are positioned behind the lecturer, so if your classroom has speakers positioned closer to the students then you may be ok sitting in the middle. if you're real hardcore, you can always buy a microphone and point it at the professor. even a cheaper one will help, because your laptop mic is pointed at you and hiding behind the laptop screen. not exactly the best position.

 

[squibby]

I just found the closest thing to OneNote I think I will find: Growly Notes. The only thing it doesn't do is link the audio to your location in your notes. It is easy to use and I like the layout. Also, it is free.

 

[withoutane]

I just found the closest thing to OneNote I think I will find: Growly Notes. The only thing it doesn't do is link the audio to your location in your notes. It is easy to use and I like the layout. Also, it is free.

SQUIBBY. I seriously owe you my life. Growly Notes is AWESOME. I'm am so ecstatic that I found a notetaking program that is just as good (if not better, actually) as OneNote for my Mac. Amazing.

 

[squibby]

SQUIBBY. I seriously owe you my life. Growly Notes is AWESOME. I'm am so ecstatic that I found a notetaking program that is just as good (if not better, actually) as OneNote for my Mac. Amazing.

You are welcome. But hey, you aren't going to miss the ability to link audio its location in your notes? My plan is to just start new audio recordings when new subjects/sections are started.

I would also accept your first-born as repayment, btw. 😀

 

[withoutane]

Meh, I don't really care about the audio linkage. I mean, at least I have audio, right? Right.

Haha I think my future mother-in-law already has a claim on my firstborn. 😉

But seriously, this program is so much better than the programs I was thinking about buying. You saved me at least $100.

 

[squibby]

But seriously, this program is so much better than the programs I was thinking about buying. You saved me at least $100.

Good! I can't believe more people don't know about it. I seriously read so many discussion boards about alternatives to onenote, and it was mentioned ONCE. We got lucky.

 

[lareinesoleil]

Good! I can't believe more people don't know about it. I seriously read so many discussion boards about alternatives to onenote, and it was mentioned ONCE. We got lucky.

THANK YOU SQUIBBY!!!! I really was interested in OneNote but would have had to parallel Windows (which I didn't want to do) and the fact that this program is free is just icing on the cake 🙂

 

[squibby]

THANK YOU SQUIBBY!!!! I really was interested in OneNote but would have had to parallel Windows (which I didn't want to do) and the fact that this program is free is just icing on the cake 🙂

👍

 

[goldielocks137]

I downloaded Growly Notes to see if I liked it and if it would work, but I really don't understand how to use it. I think I need a seminar with someone showing me what to do. Maybe once I have actual class material to put in it I would understand? Not sure

 

[squibby]

I downloaded Growly Notes to see if I liked it and if it would work, but I really don't understand how to use it. I think I need a seminar with someone showing me what to do. Maybe once I have actual class material to put in it I would understand? Not sure

There is a "Help" notebook on the right side at all times, there are instructions there. What I did was use old pdf and ppt files from classes and messed around with them to see how the program functions.

 

[MVDrCymru]

Hello All,

Do any of you share your old or existing lecture notes via this network ?

 

[heylodeb]

Hello All,

Do any of you share your old or existing lecture notes via this network ?

Absolutely not. This forum is not for that purpose. Most veterinary students also sign an agreement that they will not share educational material with people outside of their class.