TECH TIP

1. Word is great for taking notes in most classes. To emphasize main ideas, you can use boldface or underlining, font size or color, use highlights of different colors, or insert text boxes or charts. You can make bullet points or outlines and insert comment bubbles for emphasis. You can cut and paste material as you review your notes to make things organized and clear. You can also create different folders for each of your classes so that you can find everything you need with one click. (Note: Play around on the toolbars until you learn how the various tools work.)
2. Excel is especially good for economics and accounting courses, or any class that involves making calculations or financial statements. You can insert messages inside the cells of a spreadsheet to explain calculations. The notes will appear whenever you place your cursor over that cell.
3. PowerPoint can be a valuable tool for visual learners. Instead of keeping your notes in one long Word document, you can open up a Power-Point slideshow and type right into it. That way, every time your instructor introduces a new term or concept, you can open a new slide. It’s a nice way to break up the material. Good to know: Some instructors post the PowerPoint slides that they plan to use in class a few hours in advance. Print them out and take them with you as note-taking tools; you can even write notes on the slides themselves. More and more, instructors are using the dynamic presentation tool, Prezi, described as a “virtual whiteboard.” Prezi allows you to convert slides to pdf format.