Note Taking

[caglickman]

How important do you think it is to teach traditional note taking skills to ESL students given that many teachers now use methods of delivery like Power Point and give students the lecture outline beforehand? Also, many students use machines to take notes.

[fluffyhamster]

Hi Cag, and welcome to the forums!

I suspect that the majority of teachers aren't in situations where students want or need to take reams of notes, so there probably isn't the call to teach note-taking skills; likely the students prefer to be reasonably orally than "just aurally-paperly" engaged anyway (in whatever communicative activities or tasks).

I guess the closest I myself have come to this topic is reading about vocabulary learning strategies and the like:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=5235
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=9904

[Rp]

Hello Cag. From my perspective it isn't so much about note taking as note making. I think it is important that students not only write down key elements of what they are learning, but also their impressions and reflections on the learning. this ultimately reinforces the material in their own contexts.

Also, I have found that many students do not know how to take or make notes [ this isn't just esl, but most students, really ] I also encourage the use of graphic organisers such as mind-mapping. I find that with ESL learners they can capture the material in a context that is culturally relevant to them, in an affective manner... That said, depending on how conversant your students are you may need some latitude with this. But I have found pictorial capturing extremely helpful to engage them in the note taking and making process [ I made a distinction between the two ]

Rp

[Sally Olsen]

Whenever I invited an outside speaker in, I would take notes on the board as they talked to show the students various methods to take notes including mind mapping.

I also asked the students to hand in their notes every once in a while along with a sticky to show me where they would like me to comment. It really is an eye opener to see what they have "heard".

My students also did a journal and handed in that once a week with their thought about what they were learning, their frustrations, their joys and so on. Again they could mark one or two entries for me to read and comment on. We had some great conversations and I found out both physical and mental barriers to learning. Too hot/too cold, student conflicts, other pressures and so on.

One fellow could write as fast as we all could talk and it was a full account of what he thought was said. It also gave a wonderful report of the class which I used as my final report when I corrected where he had misunderstood.

[Rp]

Hi Sally, I like the journal idea. Did I understand you correctly that you had them journal each lesson, or what went on that week in general?

[Sally Olsen]

It was up to the individual. Some did every lesson, which was a huge help to me, but some just did something in the lesson or a general idea of the day and then of the week with a more reflective view on their own learning. Their contributions tended to follow their personality. Of course, I saw the biggest gain in learning English in those who did more or thought more deeply about their experiences.

We did this in my university courses as well and shared the log or parts of the log with the professor but also with our core group of four or so. It was hugely valuable to me as a student to see what others were thinking about how and what they were learning.

[caglickman]

Thanks for the interesting and thoughtful answers about note taking. I guess I didn't quite articulate the question correctly. What I am really interested in is the relationship between note taking and technology. In intensive English programs note taking is a common strategy to teach. These days, however, many departments in universities just use Power Point and a hand out of the Power Point to deliver inofrmation. How then should ESL students be taught note taking skills? Many students also like to take notes electronically. I don't know id teaching note taking in the traditional way is still as useful given new technology????

Thanks!

[Rp]

Hi Cag, my two cents worth on this is as follows:

Note taking is a personal thing, some people use mind-mapping, others write verbatim, some just like key words. Using powerpoint skews the delivery and voids the personal aspect of the process.

Also, since this is an English class, they need to practice their English skills, thus taking notes [ what ever method they use ] develops that skill.

I'm not a fan of powerpoint as it tends to be the only notes used when the notes are handed out and, if the notes are given out before the class you always have an element which will just read the notes and not listen.

For me, whenever possible use the low tech approach, in that way, as Sally has previously posted, you can get tangible feedback on whether they "get it".

[Heath]

I wonder if it's the note taking itself that is important or if it is more importantly a tool to develop a specific type of listening skill.

Sally's idea sounds great, but I think it's best because it helps Ss to think about why she takes notes on what she does rather than on how to do the notes themselves. That is, it encourages them to pay more attention to some content than other content.

So for this purpose I think:

• 1) It would be just as useful if Ss were note-taking with technology.
  2) It would still be effective in handwritten note form, even if they're going to be using technology in the future, because it helps with the content either way.
  3) Lecturer's handouts summarise what they think is important, but each person in the audience is bound to need extra or other things that are important to them as individuals. So this skill is still useful.

Of course, none of what I say is relevant if the main aim really is notes-organisation.[/list]