How to UPGRADE iPad note taking (with Science)
Summary
TLDRIn this educational video, Dr. Justin Sun, a learning coach, shares his expertise on how to use an iPad for effective note-taking based on cognitive science. He critiques common linear note-taking methods and advocates for a nonlinear approach that fosters deeper understanding and retention. Sun demonstrates how to create interconnected notes that reveal knowledge gaps and enhance learning efficiency, ultimately transforming the way one studies and retains information.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker emphasizes the importance of taking notes on an iPad in a nonlinear, cognitively effective way to enhance learning and retention.
- 🏆 Dr. Justin Sun, a learning coach, shares his expertise in evidence-based learning science to help viewers achieve top academic performance with less study time.
- 🔍 The script critiques common note-taking methods, such as linear note-taking and annotating, which are deemed inefficient and superficial.
- 🌐 It highlights the nonlinear structure of knowledge and the need to reconstruct linear teaching content into a network of expertise for deeper understanding.
- 🎨 The speaker demonstrates the process of transforming linear notes into a more effective, interconnected, and simplified nonlinear format.
- 📉 Research is cited to show that notes with higher word counts are associated with worse performance, advocating for concise and meaningful note-taking.
- 🤔 Nonlinear note-taking encourages higher-order learning by prompting the learner to constantly find relationships and create groups, fostering better retention and understanding.
- 🖌️ The use of an iPad with an infinite canvas, like the Concepts app or Apple's freeform, allows for limitless note expansion, unconfined by physical paper boundaries.
- 🔑 The script identifies 'wheel and spokes' as a common issue in nonlinear note-taking where information radiates from a central point without deeper processing or relationship mapping.
- 🚀 Nonlinear note-taking can visually reveal knowledge gaps and weaknesses, allowing for immediate identification and curiosity-driven learning.
- 🌟 Investing time in learning efficient note-taking skills pays off by saving time in the long run, improving understanding, and reducing the need for repetitive learning.
Q & A
Who is the speaker in the video and what is his background?
-The speaker is Dr. Justin Sun, a learning coach and the head of learning at IEN Study. He has helped thousands of learners from around the world learn more efficiently over the last decade.
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is how to use an iPad to write notes in the most cognitively effective way possible based on evidence-based learning science.
Why does the speaker believe linear note-taking is ineffective?
-The speaker believes linear note-taking is ineffective because it does not represent the non-linear nature of true knowledge and expertise, making it hard to remember and understand the material.
What does the speaker suggest as a better alternative to linear note-taking?
-The speaker suggests using non-linear note-taking methods, which involve creating relationships and networks between pieces of information, thus enhancing memory and understanding.
What are some problems with traditional note-taking on paper, according to the speaker?
-Traditional note-taking on paper is limited by the size of the paper, which restricts the scope and type of connections that can be formed, leading to an incomplete representation of ideas.
What benefits does the speaker highlight about using an iPad for note-taking?
-The speaker highlights that using an iPad for note-taking provides an infinite canvas, allowing for unlimited space to create connections and relationships between pieces of information.
What is the 'wheel and spokes problem' mentioned by the speaker?
-The 'wheel and spokes problem' refers to a note-taking method where all information is centered around a single topic with branches extending out, which fails to represent the interconnections between different pieces of information.
How does non-linear note-taking help in identifying knowledge gaps?
-Non-linear note-taking helps in identifying knowledge gaps because it requires conscious decision-making about how to represent information, making it easier to spot areas of weakness as you construct the notes.
Why does the speaker criticize annotating and highlighting in traditional notes?
-The speaker criticizes annotating and highlighting because it involves minimal processing of information, leading to shallow learning and poor retention.
What does the speaker recommend for effective learning using an iPad?
-The speaker recommends using apps like Concepts or Apple’s Freeform, which provide an infinite canvas for non-linear note-taking, helping to better organize and understand information.
What is the purpose of the speaker’s program at IEN Study?
-The purpose of the speaker’s program at IEN Study is to provide a guided, step-by-step approach to efficient learning, helping learners improve their skills in the fastest and easiest way possible.
What does the speaker say about the relationship between word count in notes and academic performance?
-The speaker says that notes with higher word counts are associated with worse performance and grades because it indicates less processing and understanding of the information.
Outlines
🌳 Best Practices for Effective Note-Taking on iPad
Dr. Justin Sun shares his experience of using an iPad for note-taking, which helped him achieve top marks while spending less time studying. He emphasizes that effective note-taking involves more than just writing on a tablet; it requires understanding how to use the iPad in a way that enhances cognitive processes. He introduces the concept of linear versus nonlinear note-taking and highlights common mistakes that can hinder learning efficiency.
📖 Benefits of Nonlinear Note-Taking
Dr. Sun contrasts his old, linear note-taking method with his current, nonlinear approach. He explains that linear notes, which are often isolated and wordy, do not effectively represent the interconnected nature of true knowledge. In contrast, nonlinear notes help create a network of ideas, improving understanding and retention. Dr. Sun shares examples from his own academic journey to illustrate the advantages of nonlinear note-taking.
🖋️ Overcoming the Limitations of Physical Paper
The limitations of paper-based note-taking are highlighted, particularly the restricted space which can impede the expression of complex ideas and relationships. Dr. Sun explains how using an iPad with an app that offers an infinite canvas, like Concepts or Apple’s Freeform, can overcome these limitations. He reflects on his own experiences of annotating course guides and lecture slides, showing how traditional methods can fall short in processing and understanding information deeply.
💡 Enhancing Note-Taking with iPad Apps
Dr. Sun critiques common note-taking practices on the iPad that simply replicate traditional paper methods, failing to leverage the iPad’s full potential. He discusses how many educational apps are designed more for visual appeal than for effective learning. Dr. Sun provides examples of ineffective iPad note-taking styles, emphasizing the need for deeper cognitive processing and nonlinear structuring to enhance learning and memory.
📚 The Long-Term Value of Efficient Learning
In the final section, Dr. Sun reinforces the importance of investing time in developing effective note-taking skills, emphasizing that the benefits extend far beyond immediate academic success. He encourages viewers to consider the long-term advantages of becoming skilled at learning and notes that the effort invested today will pay off in the future. He also invites viewers to explore more about efficient learning through his educational program and YouTube content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Note-taking
💡Linear Notes
💡Nonlinear Notes
💡iPad
💡Cognitive Effectiveness
💡Learning Science
💡Higher-order Learning
💡Infinite Canvas
💡Concepts App
💡Priming
Highlights
The speaker has achieved top ranking in their cohort by using an iPad for note-taking in a cognitively effective way.
Dr. Justin Sun introduces himself as a learning coach and head of learning at ien study, with a decade of experience in helping learners worldwide.
Note-taking is often not properly taught, and learning to do it right can significantly improve learning efficiency.
The speaker's old linear notes from 10 years ago were ineffective for memory and understanding, highlighting the need for non-linear note-taking.
Linear note-taking is time-consuming and does not support the formation of a network of expertise.
Non-linear note-taking allows for better representation of knowledge relationships and deeper understanding.
Higher-order learning involves focusing on meaning, connections, and importance, which is more effective for retention.
Research indicates that notes with fewer words are associated with better performance and grades.
Non-linear note-taking can visually represent knowledge gaps and weaknesses, allowing for immediate identification and curiosity.
The speaker achieved a perfect score in a paper using non-linear notes, demonstrating the method's effectiveness.
An iPad with an infinite canvas app, like Concepts or Apple's freeform, eliminates the limitations of physical paper size in note-taking.
Many learning apps replicate paper note-taking patterns without considering learning science, which can be inefficient.
Annotating and highlighting without deep processing does not contribute to learning efficiency.
The speaker criticizes the lack of adaptation in learning apps to support evidence-based learning methods.
Non-linear note-taking on an iPad can help develop a more connected and simplified understanding of complex topics.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of investing time in learning skills for lifelong benefits.
The video concludes with an invitation to explore efficient learning techniques further through a provided playlist.
Transcripts
I am a tree's best friend because for
the last 12 years I've been taking notes
almost exclusively on my tablet there's
nothing special about that there's lots
of people that take notes on their
tablet but the way that I write notes
has allowed me to achieve the top
ranking Mark in my cohort while spending
a fraction of the time studying compared
to everyone else in this video I'm going
to go through how to use an iPad to
write notes in the most cognitively
effective way possible based on real
evidence-based learning science and the
way that a lot of people write notes
using an iPad that actually cripples the
iPad's ability to help you if you are
new to this channel welcome I'm Dr
Justin Sun I'm a learning coach and the
head of learning at ien study for the
last decade I've helped thousands of
Learners from around the world learn
more efficiently during that time I have
spoken and lectured at universities and
for corporates all around the world and
note taking is consistently something
that is almost never properly taught and
learning to do it right can make a huge
difference before we jump into it I'd
appreciate if you give this video a like
every like helps to push this video out
to more people so that I can keep making
more content for free for starters let's
look at some really absolutely atrocious
note taking without using an iPad and
I'll explain exactly what's wrong with
it by recognizing what's bad then you
can see how an iPad could potentially
help you as well as how you could also
just make the exact same mistakes on an
iPad so here's an example of some notes
that I think I just absolute
garbage the person writing these notes
obviously had no idea what they were
doing they probably spent all their time
studying and had no
life I mean very very wordy look at
that this person was I can guarantee an
absolute loser how do I know this
because these are my notes from 10 years
ago and I can tell you that that is
completely true this is back in the time
when I was trying to enter into medical
school and I was just like a clueless
amoeba about learning I knew absolutely
nothing uh and I miraculously ended up
getting into medical school so what is
actually wrong with these types of notes
so first of all as you can see it is
very linear I've talked about this a lot
of my other videos but linear note
taking just does not work it takes a lot
of time you write a lot and it's just
not very good for memory and
understanding I've got some pictures and
I've got some drawings here and there
but overall it's very isolated
everything is just you know again fairly
linear and the reason is that true
knowledge is not linear true expertise
is not linear for example back when I
was a doctor not that I was really
actually an expert but I would be able
to use my knowledge in lots of different
ways for example if someone came in with
a headache I knew how to think about
that I knew what questions to ask what
information I needed what pieces were
missing and I knew the importance of
that new piece of information if they
said they had a headache but they also
had you know dizziness I knew how to
relate those things together and form a
conclusion however when an expert has to
teach something that knowledge has to
become linear because there is no other
way to teach that knowledge you can't
read multiple sentences at the same time
you can't hear multiple lines being
spoken at the same time the human brain
needs to have sensory information one at
a time so linearity is a necessary evil
of all teaching and learning even if I
showed you a map of a topic that looks
very nonlinear if you looked at it you
wouldn't actually know where to start
you still need to have someone point out
you know where things go you know it
would be too hard to follow but the
important thing is that even though
teaching and learning has to be linear
you as a learner have to reconstruct
that knowledge into the nonlinear
network of expertise rather than just
trying to commit the imperfect linear
version and with linear note taking it
is very very hard to represent a network
and relationships as a quick example
here is a nonlinear set of notes for
some of the basic principles of learning
science and then here is the exact same
amount of data and relationships
actually not even all of the
relationships expressed through just
words you can see that one is a clean
and organized nice structure and then
the other one is like trying to decipher
the matrix by looking at that green wall
of code on the monitor you can see how
much more memorable the nonlinear
version is especially for me since I'm
the one that had to think about how to
actually represent it so it makes more
sense for me the Creator than for you
who is just seeing the final product and
that example is just working with a few
Concepts and not even going that in
depth as another example this is a set
of notes that I did for part of my
masters of education it's literally
hundreds of pages worth of textbook and
journal articles and it was enough for
me to get 100% in my paper in fact I was
the first person to ever get 100% in
that paper and it might seem
unbelievable but there is actually a lot
of very intricate Nuance packed into the
arrangement of those notes so as soon as
I start to think nonlinearly a lot of
things change about how I process the
information instead of focusing on just
getting the information down I'm now
focusing on what does it mean how does
it connect how does it relate to what
I've already got where do I place it how
important is it this is called higher
order learning and it directly
translates into better retention and
deeper understanding just as another
example here is this exact page or two
pages of notes from 10 years ago that
I'm redoing nonlinearly so that you can
see the difference the main processes
I'm using during this are to constantly
look for relationships const constantly
create groups based on those
relationships and then constantly try to
create relationships between the groups
and at all times I'm thinking about how
each thing relates to the big picture
and how I could express all of this as
simply as possible interestingly while I
was doing this I found that actually my
linear notes were so superficial that I
had to end up just Googling things
because it wasn't really allowing me to
figure things out and that just goes to
show how shallow my learning was even
though I thought I was being incredibly
detailed really I was just writing a lot
of words to try to represent how it all
fits together while also at the same
time wasting a lot of time just writing
things down without even properly
fitting it all together in the end so
it's kind of a lose lose situation I had
to Google a lot of things to figure out
how it all fits together you can see as
I do this things are generally getting
missier and missier and there's more
relationships form me you can see I'm
constant zooming in and out between
different things see how it all fits
together and then after that I clean it
up to make it simpler the good thing
about doing it this way is that we can
see all the different relationships that
need to be expressed and then I can go
through and clean it up instead of
trying to figure out everything mentally
which is going to be overloading and
this is the right way to use note taking
it helps our brain think about the
connections it helps it simplify the
information down it does take some more
thinking and practice but it is well
worth the investment because trust me
after doing this the level of confidence
I felt with this page of information is
way higher than when I first made this
honestly I'm kind of amazed that I even
managed to get an A+ with the level of
detail that I had on these linear notes
like it was so superficial I also felt a
lot more curious about it and I can tell
that the information is just stuck a lot
more strongly In My Memory whereas
before it used to feel like the
information is slipping away almost as
soon as I'd finished writing the notes
but that is not all another thing that
you can see is that I've massively cut
down on how wordy it is research
actually says that notes that have
higher word counts are associated with
worse performance and grades this is not
because words are evil it's because
having more words usually means you were
thinking and processing the information
less which means less learning and a lot
of people say that I'll write my notes
first and then I'll do all of this
thinking and connecting and everything
later but if all of the meaningful
learning is being done later then you're
probably going to run out of time and
it's also just unnecessary extra work
for yourself in addition one of the
other really awesome things about
nonlinear note taking is that you can
express a lot with just the arrangement
and the arrows and the spacing on a page
like you know those times where you're
trying to explain something to someone
and you're explaining it and then you're
just like ah forget it let me just show
you instead it's kind of like the same
thing with note taking it's usually
better to show rather than explain with
like an extra couple hundred words for
example if you look at the screen you
can see that in the beginning I had this
like big loopy Arrow going like this
this one here that big loopy arrow and
initially I was thinking well where am I
meant to put that how do I express it
and so I had to make a decision to turn
that Arrow into this one right here you
can see that it's a lot cleaner now I
had to think about where to place that
and that's the same for each of these
arrows I had to think where do I want to
put all of these elements and where do I
want to put all of these arrows to be
able to express that relationship in a
way that I think makes sense and is
quite clean like for example I broke up
this part into two this actually used to
originally be up here like this a single
flow but I thought that it would make
more sense to split it up into two and I
actually still agree with that and
obviously in the linear notes it looked
nothing like this it just looked like
this which really doesn't Express
anything and you can see that this
involves a lot more thinking and
processing of the information than even
par paraphrasing or summarizing but that
is not all of the problems because uh
there's one more final issue which is
that when you write linear notes on
physical paper you're limited by the
size of the actual paper so this is a
good example where all the stuff on this
page and on this page are related
they're in the same topic there are
really important relationships between
this and with the stuff on the other
Pages too but trying to express all that
on paper is very limiting even when
people are doing nonlinear notes on
paper a lot of the time I'll see
students writing these nonlinear notes
but because you're using paper the scope
and type of connections that they're
forming are just limited by how much
they could fit on that page so their
learning is really dictated by how much
they can fit on an A4 piece of paper
rather than a authentic genuine
representation of the ideas if this
happens then we are essentially
artificially cutting off and killing
important connections relationships that
could help us develop a deeper
understanding that's why an iPad is so
useful because you can have a app on
there with Infinite Canvas and your page
never ends there are no
edges ever FYI I use an app called
Concepts and a lot of the students on
our program use Concepts as well however
Apple has also recently released free
form which comes bundled with every iPad
and that works pretty much just as well
okay let's keep the roast fest going
let's have a look at some of the other
notes that I have written and explain
also why they are garbage so these are
some of the notes in my course guide and
you can see I'm doing a lot of like
annotating a lot of highlighting yeah I
mean like I've got like a whole other
set of notes just like written on my
course
guide and you know I used to do this on
lecture slides as well this is also
pretty bad again because I'm not really
doing any thinking I'm not really
processing the information at all I'm
just dumping it on the page if I'm in a
lecture that is just going way too fast
and I'm going overwhelmed and I know I'm
just not able to keep up and process as
I go then it's sometimes fine I know
that when I wrote These this was not
even during a lecture like this was in
my self study there was no time pressure
really like I didn't have to do this but
you know the ones that I did on my
lecture slides usually I was struggling
to keep up during the lecture so I was
just documenting it down and that can be
acceptable but if afterwards the way
you're consolidating that is to just
turn all of those into linear notes
again then we're just running into the
exact same problems that I already
explained ideally to avoid that
situation we should have done some
pre-study first and created a skeleton
overall big picture frame of the topic
so that when we're in the lecture we can
actually fill that in with more detail
and then afterwards in our self study we
can add more detail and clean that up a
little bit more add more detail clean it
up add more clean it up so on and so
forth this is why pre-study and priming
is one of the most important parts of
learning system because it can massively
reduce the amount of overwhelm that you
feel and if you want to learn more about
that then check out the video here so I
think based on that we can see why using
an iPad can be so effective however
there are some ways that people will use
an iPad that makes it basically the same
as just using paper and it frustrates me
a lot to see this because this stuff is
not cheap if you bought an iPad you
should use it to its full capacity and
make Steve Jobs proud or something so
let me go through the examples of how
people use an iPad in still the wrong
ways but before we jump in I'd like to
thank our sponsor me if you didn't
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do the very critical thing of asking
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into putting everything that I know that
I've learned over the last decade of
becoming a hyper efficient learner
myself and more importantly training
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success if you are really serious about
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then I'd strongly recommend checking out
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tons of reviews feel free to read them
if you like but anyway back to the video
so a major problem of a lot of the
learning apps that are available is that
they are made by software developers not
learning experts what they're doing is
they're basically replicating the same
note taking patterns and behaviors and
Norms that people use with paper and
then just converting that to the iPad
and I have had a lot of discussions with
some of these huge mega app developers
and they are not willing to change their
app to support learning science because
it's just not a good business move it
takes a lot to try to educate someone to
change their norms and habits on note
taking just to get them to use your app
and that's just not going to be a good
sales strategy so I completely
understand why they are that reluctant
but as a learner that just means that
you have to understand that using an app
that is marketed for Learning and using
it as designed does not necessarily mean
that you are actually going to be
learning efficiently so anyway here are
some examples of some iPad note taking
that I think can be improved so see if
you can spot what the issue is you can
pause the video if you like try to
figure it out yourself first one is this
style of note taking we've got a picture
copied in we've got some notes on the
side sometimes you've got lots of
annotating it looks beautiful but I do
have serious doubts about how efficient
it is what is the problem here pause if
you want to think about it here's some
other examples of basically the same
thing yep the problem is exactly the
same as everything I just explained
before about annotating and and linear
note taking there isn't a whole lot of
deep processing it's really just simple
paraphrasing and summarizing there's no
nit works it's very isolated the copying
in images looks nice the pictures but
again copy paste is literally the lowest
form of processing that you can do yes
it's easier than trying to draw it or
represent the most important parts of it
for yourself but it doesn't actually
make it very memorable so yes it's easy
but it's also not that useful okay here
has a better one uh but what is the
problem here yes it's the limited page
size so as a result the notes are still
actually pretty linear there are some
networks on this but the networks are
really small and really isolated so
again it's not like how real expertise
should be built and structured all right
final one what is the problem
here this is a bit trickier it isn't
very linear and the person isn't limited
by Page size but the person hasn't
process the information a lot because
you can see that it's all sort of just
coming off from the central branch which
means that the only thing that they
decided on was that everything is
related to this one group and everything
just branches out from that they haven't
really thought about how to simplify it
they haven't thought about how it could
be subgroup they haven't thought about
any other ways of grouping it you know
they haven't thought about how each of
the branches relate to each other for
those of you that are on our program at
I can study you'll notice that this is
the famous wheel and spokes problem so
once you can start writing notes
nonlinearly and doing the right kind of
thinking it just completely transforms
your note taking experience one of the
other major advantages is that it shows
you visually where your knowledge gaps
and weaknesses are what I mean is that
because each step of writing the notes
actually requires you to think about it
and process it and make a conscious
decision about how you want to express
it if you struggle with that then you
know that that is an area of weakness
and there's a knowledge Gap normally to
find these gaps with normal note taking
you might have to write your notes and
spend hours and hours and then weeks
later when you do a practice test and
you test yourself and thinking with that
same pathway you realize you struggle to
answer the question or you get it wrong
and that's how you discover the Gap by
doing this we can save literally weeks
worth of time and identify the gaps
immediately as you are putting them down
and as a side effect we're also becoming
more curious because we're finding the
Gap and then we're filling the Gap and
that's actually a very enjoyable
engaging experience as each Gap fills
our knowledge is actually becoming
fundamentally stronger and more
connected and so our expertise is
growing and then as we learn more it
gets easier and easier and simpler to
understand so even though it technically
takes longer to write your notes down
like literally because you actually have
to think about it as you write you're
saving time massively overall because a
you're actually having to write left l b
you're actually forgetting less C you're
understanding it more deeply in the
first place so you don't have to do as
many repetitions to try to get to that
depth which is better for your
confidence and anxiety D we're actually
finding knowledge gaps potentially weeks
earlier and E because it's helping us
develop these knowledge networks it
means that future content is faster and
easier to learn because we have existing
networks to build off and so by now you
might be thinking damn learning is not
as simple as I thought it was and the
answer is well yeah you're right it
takes time it is a legit skill but it is
time that is worth investing in it pays
you off lifelong what I always say is
that time is going to pass anyway and
months from now you're either going to
have the skill or you won't and if you
want to make the process of learning the
skill easier then I'd recommend checking
out our
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watching and I'll see you next
[Music]
time
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