Get started with OneNote

Completed

OneNote is a powerful tool for teachers to help with organization, creation of lesson resources, and other parts of daily workflow. OneNote is a digital notebook organized with sections and pages. Educators can use it as a personal notebook or as a Class Notebook or Staff Notebooks.

Why Use OneNote?

You can use OneNote to explore ideas.

  • Use it as a whiteboard and for mind-mapping
  • Add typed notes
  • Draw, hand write notes, and annotate pictures and models
  • Hand write or type math expressions and use the equation editor to explore problems
  • Embed many different types of content:
    • Audio recordings, for voice notes and audio assessment
    • Images from online sources, your own images, or your device’s camera
    • Videos
    • Microsoft Forms and other assessment tools like Quizlet
    • Files from OneDrive and SharePoint, such as PowerPoint slides in a viewable window.

You can use OneNote to collaborate with others, both in the classroom and with other staff. Keep track of tasks and ultimately use it to save time. Access information on a computer, a tablet, or phone since it's saved to OneNote.

Visit Introducing OneNote to explore how to find, open, create, and organize notebooks. Personal OneNote files are saved to OneDrive. Class or Staff Notebooks are created either through Microsoft Teams or the Class Notebook tool.

Access your class notebook

A Class Notebook is created automatically in Microsoft Teams for Education. Educators can access the notebook by signing in to their class on Microsoft Teams and choosing Class Notebook from the main menu.

Choose the navigation button to open the navigation menu on the left side to display your notebook sections.

Screenshot of navigation button in OneNote.

  • Add a section by choosing + Add section.
  • Change the tab color by right-clicking on a tab and choosing Section Color.
  • Adding a page by choosing +Add page option.

Activity

Try creating your own personal notebook to practice what you learn in this module. Once you create your notebook, add at least one new section and one new page.

Reflection

A great way to learn how to use OneNote is to use it personally first.

Consider:

  • What personal uses of OneNote would be helpful for you?
  • What are some ways you could organize your sections and pages?
  • What features will you find most useful?

Application

You can create notebooks for personal and professional use. Consider creating a notebook for:

  • Your household - Keep track of budgets, purchases, holiday shopping lists, children's activities, and more.
  • Recipe notebook - Collect all your favorite recipes in one place so you can easily access them when you're out shopping and when you're cooking.
  • Lesson planner - Organize materials and resources for all of your units in one notebook.
  • Professional development - Keep track of all your training materials and take-a-ways.