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Cover:OneNote, Learning, and Learning StylesBy Professor Dr Ole Lauridsen, Aarhus, DenmarkTable of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u OneNote – a learning tool of the 21st century PAGEREF _Toc409513651 \h 4OneNote and learning from a general perspective PAGEREF _Toc409513652 \h 5Activity – controlled and independent activity, the fuel of learning PAGEREF _Toc409513653 \h 6A global outlook – step one in all learning PAGEREF _Toc409513654 \h 6Firm patterns – an important basis of learning PAGEREF _Toc409513655 \h 7Structure – the learner’s structure PAGEREF _Toc409513656 \h 7Existing knowledge – the foundation of new knowledge PAGEREF _Toc409513657 \h 8Various media and various sensory channels – important prerequisites for remembering and understanding. PAGEREF _Toc409513658 \h 8OneNote and Learning Styles PAGEREF _Toc409513659 \h 9Learning Styles PAGEREF _Toc409513660 \h 10The Dunn and Dunn Model PAGEREF _Toc409513661 \h 11Learning Styles Elements and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513662 \h 13Directly addressed Learning Styles elements PAGEREF _Toc409513663 \h 14Analytic Versus Global Information Processing PAGEREF _Toc409513664 \h 15Analytics and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513665 \h 16Globals and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513666 \h 18Perceptional Elements and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513667 \h 20The Auditory Element and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513668 \h 21The Visual Element and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513669 \h 22The Tactile Element and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513670 \h 23The Kinesthetic Element and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513671 \h 24The Verbal Element and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513672 \h 25Emotional Elements and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513673 \h 26Task Persistence and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513674 \h 26Structure and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513675 \h 27Sociological Elements and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513676 \h 28Other Learning Styles Elements and OneNote PAGEREF _Toc409513677 \h 29Smartphones, Tablets, OneNote and Learning Styles PAGEREF _Toc409513678 \h 30Last but not least PAGEREF _Toc409513679 \h 32OneNote – a learning tool of the 21st centuryLearning takes place through the active behavior of the student: it is what he does that he learns, not what the teacher does.(Tyler, R. W. (1949). Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press)As research has confirmed over and over again, this 65 year old statement holds true: the student learns only when he or she is active. A teacher cannot teach anybody anything at all. But he or she can deliver information in a well thought-through way, initiate a learning process amongst the students and support this process. But the student has to actively cooperate: only he or she can learn.Furthermore, learning is an entirely individual process based on the learner’s capabilities, experiences, prior knowledge, interests, motivation – and learning styles.OneNote supports student activity in a way that corresponds to the needs and requirements of today’s learners and also to important knowledge on how the brain learns. OneNote delivers a strong, intuitive, and easy-to-use framework for all types of learning and it makes it possible for the individual student to learn in his or her own way. OneNote is a learning tool of the 21st century, perhaps the learning tool. OneNote and learning from a general perspectiveWe all learn in different ways because our brains are different. Of course all human brains have the same basic structure, but there are individual differences but – just as we all have faces with two ears and eyes, a nose, and a mouth and still are very different.This means that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions when it comes to teaching and learning. Teachers cannot accommodate to the needs of all students, and therefore it is important that the students get tools they can utilize in accordance with their wants and wishes. During the last decade research within the field of Mind, Brain and Education has established some very central facts about how the brain learns best, and thanks to its intuitivity and easy-to-use feature OneNote supports quite a few of them.Having to be an active learner, having one’s learning experiences collected in one place, easily getting global overviews of academic areas, being able to structure a topic in one’s individual way, getting hold on and reactivating one’s existing knowledge without problems, using various media and thus various sensory channels: all this is in accordance with the way the brain leans best, and all this directly and efficiently supported by OneNote. Let us briefly look at all this without into technical details. Activity – controlled and independent activity, the fuel of learningWhen a student works actively, that is when he or she constructs new knowledge through his or her own activity, motivation and engagement will increase.OneNote lets the teacher create activities for the students (controlled activities), and the students themselves can invent and form activities in accordance with the way the way they structure the subject (see below), and the way they altogether prefer to work on their own (independent activities). A global outlook – step one in all learningNothing is more important for the students than having a global overview of the field they are working before they go into the details. Opening a OneNote folder with its well-defined main categories and subcategories, perhaps supported by a mind map gives the learner this important spring board into the field they are going work within. The teacher can define the first structure and the student can then develop the structure. When the student later is to revisit the subject he or she has the best possible point of departure in just one click. Firm patterns – an important basis of learningThe human brain seeks patterns to predict results, outcomes, consequences, etc. These patters must be revisited again and again for them to be stored and easily reused. OneNote’s makes it very simple to distill the core patters of a given subject and reactivate them. This can be done by the teacher or by the students themselves through controlled or independent activities. Structure – the learner’s structureWe all build up knowledge in our own ways. One student’s structure of a certain field differs from another’s, or to put it in another way: there are not two individuals that know the same in the same way. Knowing and using one’s individual structure is paramount in all academic work, and cultivating a subject in OneNote makes it possible for the individual student to immediately see, evaluate, and develop his or her structure.Here is must be stated, too, that the brain does not learn in a linear and logical way. The flexibility of OneNote accommodates this fact: the program allows the individual student to work as – apparently – chaotic as he or she wants, but in the end, OneNote delivers a firm basis and a solid overview. Existing knowledge – the foundation of new knowledgeWe always connect new information – what, we see, hear, read, etc. – with existing knowledge. OneNote makes it possible for the student to go back to prior learning experiences and gather or reactivate his or her prior knowledge. In a few clicks the student is prompted and he or she will take in the new information and process it smoothly and effectively.Various media and various sensory channels – important prerequisites for remembering and understanding. It is of great importance that we take in information through as many sensory channels and media as possible. Thus our knowledge will be stored in many different ways, and thus it is much easier to recall the knowledge: we develop much more stimuli to reactivate our knowledge. Learning new things gets easier, and this goes for understanding as well.CollaborationWe are gregarious creatures. Since the beginning of times, we have lived together in groups: We hunted in groups, we cultivated the soil in groups, we harvested in groups - we learnt how to do this in groups, and we still learn in groups. Presumably laid down in our genes collaborative learning is the most important and efficient way of learning we have. Research shows that teaching others leads to the best understanding and retention, and this is the core matter of collaborative learning: teach others – get inspired by others – learn yourself.OneNote is collaborative learning, so to speak. The basic idea of the program is that the learners not only store information, but also exchange information in a seamless and natural way and thus learn together. And the advantage that a program like OneNote offers is that the joint learning process takes place on one and only one platform; we don’t face the compatibility problems that so often occur when various programs run together.OneNote and Learning StylesIn many respects simply using OneNote supports the way the brain learns. But there are other things to learning than the ones listed above, not least when it comes to the way people prefer to work when they are to learn new and difficult things, and this leads us to the concept of Learning Styles. Often, it is difficult to put ones preferences into words, to pinpoint where and how to begin. Here Learning Styles comes in handy: the concept can be looked on as a language that describes some important factors of learning in a way that everybody can understand and relate to. So let us delve into Learning Styles and how some of its important factors are supported by OneNote. The learning styles model chosen here is the one of Dunn and Dunn. Developed from the sixties and onward it is very popular and widely used all over the world.Learning Styles Based on the concept developed by Drs. Rita Dunn and Ken Dunn, Learning Styles may be defined as the methods each person uses to concentrate on new and difficult information;internalize this information;process this information into knowledge and/or adjust prior knowledge;retain this knowledge, and use this knowledge.This understanding of Learning Styles comprises important steps of any learning process.The Dunn and Dunn Model The Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model applies to all age groups and it has been thoroughly researched.As the illustration at the top of the opposite page shows, the model operates with 20 elements that are fundamental to learning. These elements are grouped in 6 categories: Environmental Elements (yellow color code), Emotional Elements (green color code), Sociological Elements (blue color code), Physiological Elements (purple color code: perceptual elements; lilac color code: bodily needs), and Physiological Elements (purple color code), and Psychological Elements (orange color code).Building Excellence, a variant of the model designed for adult learners shown at the bottom of the opposite page, organizes the elements in another way and places the perceptual elements in a strand of its own. This view stresses the difference between pure bodily needs and perception.Actually the model at the top accommodates so called analytics whereas Building Excellence caters to globals (cp. p. X). Learning Styles Elements and OneNote We cannot go into detail with the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model here. Instead we will focus on the elements that are especially important when we use OneNote in our learning.In order for you to have your Learning Styles preferences determined take a profile at ; here you find assessments for K-12 and adults. Use your profile as a point of departure: stick to your preferences when you are to start a new learning process: a new subject, an assignment, a project, etc. When you feel secure, then take up other ways of working. Our brain is a cornucopia of possibilities, and the more ways of learning we can use the better we learn, understand and remember.Directly addressed Learning Styles elementsFrom the perspective of individual preferences, OneNote offers numerous supportive tools. The elements directly addressed in OneNote are:psychological elements: analytic versus global;all perceptual elements;emotional elements: task persistence (multi-tasking versus single tasking), structure;sociological elements: alone, pair, peer group, team, expert, variation.Most of the remaining elements of the model are also integrated in the program, but in a less direct manner. The interaction of OneNote and the above elements will therefore be the main focus in the following; the interaction between OneNote and the remaining elements will be briefly touched upon at the end of this booklet.Analytic Versus Global Information Processing As mentioned above all learners need a global overview before going further into a subject.But some people learn best when they are allowed to work step by step in a logical sequence with the new information presented to them after having got the overview; they are called analytics.Others learn best when they work with large chunks of information on the basis of which they can then investigate the details themselves; they are called globals.Finally, there is a group of people, called the integrated, who do not prefer one way rather than the other; they can approach new and difficult information both analytically and globally.For instance, when going from one place to another, analytics prefer to have a detailed route description, whereas globals prefer a map. The integrated learners do not care whether they have a route description or a map. Analytics and OneNoteThe OneNote interface – like the other Office interfaces – meets the needs of the analytic learners.Since analytics are often less visual picture oriented (cf. p. X), they tend to prefer text to icons; thus they should consider removing the icon bar(s) and stick to the drop down menus: On the whole, a leading principle for analytics is KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Thus analytics should avoid all types of layout extras that tend to distract them; very often this applies to colors as well. Thus they should consider working only with black text on a white background as shown on the next page.Both the notebook feature and the basic tab organization of OneNote make it possible for the analytics to organize their learning materials in great detail, exactly as they need it. Separate notebooks can be set up for e.g. separate projects, subjects, issues, or topics; and projects, subjects, issues, or topics can be broken down into small units through the tab facility: The main categories are organized in sections on the horizontal tabs line at the top, and each section can be divided into subsections. Furthermore, each subsection can be analytically structured by means of traditional tools such as numbers and/or bullets.The analytics can easily develop the very structure they need and prefer in order to build up knowledge. The flexible OneNote search feature prevents the analytic learners from getting lost in tiny details, and the use of hyperlinks between notebooks, sections, and subsections obviously has the same effect. Globals and OneNoteGlobals tend to prefer icons to text as they are often strongly visual picture oriented (cp. p. X). They should therefore consider using as many tool bars as possible even though it reduces the working screen to a certain degree.The leading principle for globals is F&C: fun and Color. To that end, OneNote offers a lot of possibilities to the global users: a variety of fonts and templates. The global learners should experiment with these fonts and templates in order to find the ones that support and motivate them (of course the global users can create their own templates if they so wish). Most of the prefab One Note templates have pictures and decorations, and they therefore support the global learners’ frequent need for visuals (more on visuals on p. X). Being global does not mean being disorganized. Globals also need the sections and subsections in OneNote (preferably in colors), but typically not as many subsections as the analytics. Globals prefer a general overview before they move on to the details; thus they often like to work with mind mapping (sometimes combined with text boxes) rather than step by step tables. Mind maps are easily made in OneNote by means of the drawing tools, and the possibility of increasing the pages beyond their normal sizes makes it easier to create a large mind map; this goes for the full screen feature, too. For some people, however, it turns out to be a problem to manage the drawing by tools; for them, a tablet will be a blessing (further on smartphones, tablets and OneNote, cp. p. X) – or they can draw a mind map on a piece of paper, take a photo and store this in OneNote.Perceptional Elements and OneNoteThe BE Learning Styles model comprises five perceptual elements:The auditory: learning by listening.The visual: learning by seeing text (reading) or by seeing real or mental pictures, graphs, charts, etc.The tactual: learning by using your hands and feet.The kinesthetic: learning by using your whole body and / or by involving yourself as a person (learning by doing).The verbal: learning by discussing aloud with self or others. All these modalities are supported in OneNoteThe Auditory Element and OneNoteOneNote supports the auditory strength by allowing users to work with audio files. Whole lectures or speeches, recordings from meetings, thoughts, ideas, brainwaves, reminders, etc. can be stored for further processing, provided with relevant annotations in writing or pictures as needed. Beside this, the MS Narrator (or other similar text to speech programs) can be used for reading text from the screen.Auditory learners are often non-tactile, and they therefore have difficulties taking notes. If that is the case, they can switch on the recorder during meetings, lectures, etc. and save the file in the right context afterwards.The Visual Element and OneNoteIt goes without saying that written text and all sorts of illustrations support the visual strength; as far as icons and annotations are concerned, there is a wide range of them in OneNote, and the creative user can of course design his own. Furthermore, pictures of all kinds can be inserted – from the user’s own gallery or from Microsoft’s online galleries.Another important feature is video files; like pictures and audio files, they can easily be integrated in sections and subsections, and connecting program and camera causes no problems. Of course all sorts of mind maps, flow charts and diagrams are of importance for visual learners; the design of such representations in OneNote or the import of them from other programs into OneNote is unproblematic. The Tactile Element and OneNote The tactile learners benefit from the mere use of a computer and, thus, the mere use of OneNote. Drawing, making audio or video recordings, scrolling, following links, etc., etc. are important activities for tactile learners and strongly support their learning processes. A tablet with its possibilities of drawing and writing by hand is a strong tool for the tactile learner (on smartphones, tablets and OneNote, cp. p. X). The Kinesthetic Element and OneNoteThe kinesthetic learners can let OneNote automatically convert audio and video files into a format that is compatible with all types of players and thus learn while on the move. With a smartphone or a tablet at their disposal, they can support their need to learn while moving to an even greater extent (further on smartphones, tablets and OneNote, cp. p. X).If the kinesthetic learners want to involve themselves as individuals – the more developed way of being kinesthetic and typical of adults – they can set up the notebooks they use for e.g. homework as projects that they manage. Such a role play lets these learners be an integrated part of the learning process and take ownership of it. The Verbal Element and OneNoteTalking directly with others within OneNote is of course no option; but via Messenger the verbal learners can meet their need for verbalizing by interacting with peers.Often verbal learners like to talk with themselves, and they can support this preference by using the recording tool: Mentally, recording speech is more binding than saying words that just vanish into thin air; thus a recording has a larger learning impact. Emotional Elements and OneNoteThe emotional elements in the BE Learning Styles model are first of all stress factors. Stress is an emotion in line with happiness, depression, love, etc. And if a person is stressed, he cannot learn properly. Whereas these very personal emotions cannot be influenced in a learning context, stress can. Of the 4 elements in the emotional strand, task persistence and structure can be addressed in OneNote.Task Persistence and OneNoteTask persistence refers to the fact that some learners – the single-taskers – prefer completing one task before beginning another, whereas others – the multi-taskers – prefer working on several tasks at the same time.For multi-taskers OneNote is a gold mine. The smooth interaction with other Office applications makes it easy to switch between tasks, and the program as such with its notebooks, sections, subsections, and various other features gives the multi-taskers the same opportunity to meet their needs.Structure and OneNoteSome learners prefer to be provided with a structure of the learning material; others want to create their own structure – order and/or connection of pieces of information, linking to other subjects and/or topics, etc. In both cases, the end result is that the learner develops a structure of his or her own (cp. p. X), but some students need support to get started, others do not.OneNote makes it possible for the individual learner to work on a structure given by a teacher, a manager or other person in charge. Of course, this could be done in Word or other Office applications as well, but the flexibility of OneNote surpasses the possibilities given in other programs – simply because the users can collect all their learning materials within one application.Sociological Elements and OneNoteOneNote supports the learner’s preference whether he wants to work alone, in a pair, in a peer group, or a team, whether or not he wants a person of authority close by while working and, finally, whether or not he prefers variation between these options,.The loner who wants to work on his own, can obviously just do so, and through the share function people who want to cooperate with others or under the guidance of an expert, may easily have their needs met. The direct interaction with Outlook and the blog-feature serve the same purpose; and of course online communication is an option as well.Other Learning Styles Elements and OneNote As mentioned at the beginning, other Learning Styles elements are addressed through the use of OneNote, but in a less direct manner. Here follows a few examples:For the learners who prefer a less formal seating (an environmental element), it is an advantage that the program comprises so many features and can hold all necessary materials. These learners do not need to switch between various files and applications and can work with only a few open windows. It is therefore possible for them to work efficiently with their laptops, smartphones, or tablets on a sofa, in a bed or even on the floor – which quite a few learners actually prefer.Since all learning materials or meeting documents may be stored in OneNote, learners have the opportunity to process the materials at the time of the day that suits them best; for asynchronous teaching or meetings this is most advantageous. Smartphones, Tablets, OneNote and Learning Styles453898031750With a smartphone or a tablet the learners can exploit their tactile and kinesthetic strengths to a greater extent than with traditional equipment. For many tactile-kinesthetic learners, writing and drawing by hand is much better than using the built-in features; and though it is actually possible to write and draw with the mouse on a conventional computer, this does not necessarily lead to satisfactory results.With a tablet pc, the creation of mind maps and flow charts is easier, and this goes for amendments to such drawnings as well. Quite a few people have difficulties using the keyboard when taking notes, and often the clicking of the keyboard disturbs other people present. This prevents people from using their laptops efficiently, and they must constantly juggle with scraps of paper, file boxes, binders, and the pc; this inevitably slows down or literally disturbs the learning process. On a tablet pc and to some extent on a smartphone, however, scribbling notes during lessons and meetings is just like writing on paper, and the notes are immediately integrated in OneNote and saved in the relevant folders. Furthermore, kinethetic people’s need for movement or their overall kinesthetic way of learning is supported by the use of a smartphone or a tablet. The learners are not tied to a desk, but can walk around as they please – holding a tablet does not differ from holding a book or a notepad.Last but not leastLast but definitely not least, the use of OneNote on various platforms corresponds to the way the learner of the 21st century works and acts in his or her daily life: on the laptop, the smartphone, or the tablet with seamless switches between programs, apps, and communication platforms. Learning happens all the time, also outside the formal teaching setup. We learn constantly, and we must learn constantly to live up to the requirements of modern society. In using OneNote for study purposes and all other types of knowledge work, the individual learner supports his or her lifelong learning in a most efficient way. ................
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