Microsoft OneNote is changing the way students learn and teachers stay organized. But, did you know it is also ideal for administrators who need to keep everyone on the same page and make sure processes run smooth?
OneNote has a lot of moving parts, but its main purpose is organization. It keeps everything in its place and has a place for everything. Once you use it, you’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.
Staff Notebooks Are Where It’s At
Throw the binders away. OneNote’s Staff Notebooks have everything you need to improve your school’s efficiency. It streamlines communication, keeps tracks of meeting agendas and minutes, and allows you to post faculty teaching assignments and professional development trainings.
Staff Notebooks contain three parts: a collaboration space, a shared content library and a personal workspace for every staff member.
Collaboration Space: Everyone in your school or on your team has access to view and edit the content found here. This is a perfect place for to post staff meeting agendas, discussions and brainstorming. You can ask faculty to work together on initiatives and projects and to post their ideas for guest speakers and events.
Content Library: Here you can add content for the staff leader to view. Add pages for professional development, data analysis workshops, school calendars and schedules - basically any information that would normally be sent out over multiple email attachments. It’s also organized and searchable.
Personal Workspace: Use this space for communication between yourself and staff members. Parent communication notes, student support team information, lesson plans and evaluation and observation reflections can all be organized and kept here. You can also search and find multiple documents over multiple years.
OneNote’s Tools Make It All Come Together
Not only are OneNote’s features, like Staff Notebook and Class Notebook, awesome for educators, but the practical tools built into the design are mind-blowing.
Add Any Content: Text, images and video can be added to any page and can be enlarged and minimized while presenting live, with a pinch and zoom. Plus, OneNote is an infinite canvas that expands at-will.
Digital Inking: This is just one of the many ways you can add content to a page. You can project the device and annotate text, including highlighting words and lines. Plus, there are handy “Ink to Text” and “Ink to Math” options.
Available On Everything: OneNote can be accessed on a variety of devices – PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and even Chromebook. It updates in real-time, so multiple devices, i.e. a phone and laptop, and can used simultaneously.
Saving Is Automatic: Everything is always saved when you work in OneNote. There are no buttons to click; ideal for teachers and staff who need to refer to the information later.
Do you love OneNote as much as we do? Tell us in the comments!