What is OneNote?

OneNote, part of the office365 suite (microsoft software everybody at the LSE has access to) is a notebook application, essentially a virtual, electronic equivalent to a physical notebook.

You can get the office 365 for free via this DTS page. (Or go straight to ttps://www.office.com/ and login and download or use via a web browser).

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Microsoft Support pages https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote, which includes a site of short video introductions to using OneNote.

Does it integrate with Moodle?

Not yet - before any such external integrations can be deployed, they have to undergo a rigorous security check from the Data Technology Services (DTS). So far, OneNote has not been moved onto that list of software. The main advantages of an integration would be automatic assigning of groups and the ability to grade any activity in it (for assessment).

Why use it?

OneNote is a great way of keeping notes that can be shared, accessed from anywhere (via web browser or desktop app), and used to work collaboratively. But it is only a notebook, although one into which you can add audio, video, weblinks and links to shared files. Its best feature for blended (online and offline) learning is that it can be used for collaboration, ie editing can be shared.

Example

In GV101, Joe Greenwood, one of the course’s GTAs, used it to make voluntary collaboration a bit more organised, and to avoid using google, wanted a system that was part of the LSE infrastructure.

On a voluntary basis, he asked his students to choose a particular country in the world and each week answer a very short question from that country’s geopolitical and or historical perspective.

“[S]tudents were asked to adopt a country (not their own) in the early weeks of MT and were then posed questions relating to each week's GV101 topic, which they were asked to answer in relation to their countries. The goal was to increase student engagement with the course, help them understand the topics and concepts by linking them to real-world examples, and motivate them to build up their knowledge of how politics works in a country previously unfamiliar to them.”

Screenshot of shared OneNote Notebook for GV101

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This examples uses one shared Notebook to which all students can contribute, which they can edit collaboratively. Teachers can also set up a class notebook, which is one setup, but shared between teachers and each individual students.

OneNote Class Notebook

https://www.onenote.com/classnotebook

This is designed to help teachers and lecturers set up notebooks for each student in one go, saving time and giving asharing instructions or structure efficiently. The add-in includes page and section distribution, and the ability to quickly review student work.

OneNote for Windows 10 and Mac users do not need to download the Class Notebook Add-in separately as it is built in.

Links to external resources:

https://www.lifewire.com/tips-tricks-for-microsoft-onenote-beginners-2511970

https://educationblog.microsoft.com/en-us/2017/03/10-best-uses-for-onenote-in-your-teaching-and-learning/