By developing a variety of note-taking strategies, you will be best equipped to learn in any and every situation.  As you consider various note-taking techniques presented in this lesson, you will find that some are more helpful at one time than they are at another.  Understanding the benefits of each technique will help you to make the best decisions about which strategies to use and when.

If you prefer taking notes on a computer or other electronic device, you can still use any of the strategies explained in this lesson. Your keyboarding skills and the versatility of your device may limit what you can do during a lecture, but after the lecture, you can print out any notes, leaving a wide margin for your cues and a space at the end for your summary. Be careful not to get distracted when using technology for notes.  If you are distracted by the internet, formatting problems, or other technological difficulties, your hi-tech learning will quickly become low level learning. In such a case, it is better to take your notes by hand.