MuseForJews

The Technology: Sketchnoting/ Paper

Taking notes by hand can often be more effective than typing them into a laptop or tablet. Similarly, sketchnoting, the act of drawing a visual story while listening to a speaker or reading a text, can also be an excellent way for students to remember and synthesize new information. 

There are many apps that support sketching on a tablet, but my favorite is Paper.

It gives you basic, digital drawing tools like markers, pencils, and an eraser, and allows you to arrange your drawings into notebooks and easily organize your work. You can also integrate photos into your drawings. 

After you have completed your sketchnotes, you can save them to the iPad’s camera roll, share them via email, or post them to social media. 

Paper is free to download, but you will also need a stylus for your tablet. They can be purchased for as little as $6.00 on amazon.

In Your Classroom

• Kathy Schrock’s guide to sketchnoting features articles about the active listening process, how to integrate it into your classroom, and how to teach it to your students.
• You may have to spend some time teaching your students how to be active listeners and how to arrange what they’re hearing to best suit their way of learning. This blog post about sketchnoting in third grade gives some great examples.
• Have your students sketchnote various parts of a history or Bible lesson and then share them with one another. Consider printing them out for the classroom as well. 
• Do you have students who just want to doodle throughout the entire class? Be on the lookout for students with whom this visual activity will resonate!

This is a “Technology Tuesday” post via Behrman House, edited by Ann D. Koffsky . You can find more Behrman House Technology Tuesdays here.