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1education OneNote in education
education
All your notes on all your devices
OneNote
in Education

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2education OneNote in education
Contents
Chapter 1: What is OneNote?
Finding OneNote
Why OneNote
Beneath the surface
How will you transform your teaching
Chapter 2:
Collaboration in the classroom
OneNote Class Notebook
The individual space
Collaboration space
Content Library
Chapter 3:
OneNote for collective learning
Modelling creativity
Project based learning
Collective annotation
Collective exam responses
Chapter 4: Assessment for learning
Live images to model progress
Annotating to assess learning
Diverting the learning route
Assessing the progress of home learning
and project work
Chapter 5: OneNote for peer assessment
Chapter 6: Independent learning
Chapter 7: OneNote for providing
invaluable feedback
Audio feedback
Live teacher feedback as “coach”
Tags toolkit
Monitoring feedback
Chapter 8: OneNote for the teacher and
administrator – OneNote staff notebook
OneNote for one of a kind organisation
The OneNote workload
Class Notebook inspires a staff notebook!
OneNote staff notebook
The individual, private space
The collaboration space
The content library
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What is OneNote?
Chapter 1

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Microsoft OneNote is the essential
tool every teacher needs. Flexible
and easy-to-use, OneNote allows
lesson plans, marking, assessment,
peer feedback and collective work
to be stored in one convenient
central location. Interactive content
can be accessed by students
allowing for visible and trackable
collaboration, including peer and
self-assessment. With OneNote
Class Notebooks, teachers have
differentiated instruction, content
delivery, and a collaborative digital
space allowing students the freedom
to learn and develop in a way that
suits their needs, and this notebook
that won’t get lost in the office or
soaked in the washing machine.
The potential of Microsoft’s
OneNote to improve the quality
of teaching and learning is limitless.
Finding OneNote
As relationships go, my commitment
to technology was initially
questionable. Put off by intimidating
instructions and time consuming
tools, I had avoided trying new
software as if it carried the plague.
Forever taxiing books between
school and home, the boot of my
car resembled an overfilled and
unreliable office with books and
paper everywhere. Microsoft’s
OneNote was the digital organiser
I needed to get the volumes of work
I received every day in order.
OneNote was initially recommended
to me by a colleague who pledged,
“it’s all I need to survive my week”,
describing how it saved him
time and improved his teaching
practice. I was doubtful. Despite my
apprehension, he assured me that it
would be quick and easy to set up
and so I stepped out of my comfort
zone and dived into the realm of
digital learning.
Swallowing my pride and learning
never to doubt a science teacher
again, I found myself instantly
settled in the OneNote environment.
Navigating myself through my
notebook, I created a variety
of pages to organise my every
need, from shopping lists to A2
annotations of exam specifications
it was all there. Only when I began
questioning what else I could do
using OneNote did my colleague
point me towards the tool’s
interactive guides which can be
found at:
WHATISONENOTE?
‘The potential of
Microsoft’s OneNote
to improve the quality
of teaching and
learning is limitless.’
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
ONENOTEINEDUCATION.COM

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5education OneNote in education
Why OneNote?
OneNote is not only
ideal for organising my
workload into clearly
identifiable and
manageable sections,
but it enables me to
sustain control over my
career whilst maintaining
a work life balance.
OneNote is not only a tool
for the professional but for
the individual behind the
staff badge as well.
OneNote is convenient and
fits into your schedule. Once a slave
to my marking I can now access
students’ work at times that
suit me – regardless of whether I am
connected to the internet. Marking
on OneNote is as easy as making
changes on a word document,
however all students have instant
access to the document throughout
the process. If marking during a
commute, I know that once I fall
back under the umbrella of Wi-Fi
my editions will automatically sync
keeping my notebooks and my
students up to date.
Through staff room conversations
and break duty chats with other
teachers I began to grasp the
magnitude of ways that OneNote
can be used in education. I had
originally used it as a support
mechanism for providing my
students with feedback whilst
promoting collective learning
outside of the classroom,
independent of the teacher.
However this was only the tip of
the iceberg. OneNote ceased to
become just a support mechanism
for my students learning,
and became an active and
engaging feature of how I taught.
Beneath the
surface of
OneNote
OneNote rapidly became an integral
part of my assessment for learning
by becoming the digital space I use
to monitor my students’ progress.
Throughout lessons our learning
journey is stored on OneNote,
allowing students to reflect and
evaluate on their work and the work
of others. The focus of learning shifts
from simply finding the correct
answer to developing the strong
understanding of how we got there
enhancing deep learning.
Using OneNote, I am able to change
the shape of my lessons to cater for
students’ individual needs. Within
a notebook I can store a bank of
resources appropriate for all learners
in the group. Differentiation has
never felt so instant and yet so
personal with even the shyest of
students growing in confidence as
they immerse themselves in the
bank of resources in our shared
learning space, anonymously
selecting the content that is right
for them.
How will you
transform your
teaching?
This eBook will present to you
a series of effective ways that
OneNote can have a positive and
direct impact on your teaching.
Every teacher is different and
OneNote gives you the freedom
to be who you are in a creative and
innovative way that reflects your
individual teaching style.
I am always inspired and astounded
by the way that other educators
have interpreted this free tool
and put it to work in their lessons,
and I continue to witness new and
exciting ideas. Most importantly
though, it is the positive impact
on the students’ that is truly
remarkable. Student engagement,
enjoyment and interaction has never
been stronger in my lessons and
OneNote has played a vital part in
these improvements.
OneNote is the tool for an educator.
It is the means to our collective
journey in education and in the
words of Ari Schorr, “All for one and
OneNote for all!”
ACCESS STUDENTS WORK
AT A TIME THAT SUITS YOU
WHATISONENOTE?

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Collaboration in the classroom
Chapter 2

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OneNote Class
Notebook
OneNote Class Notebook is the
digital space that every teacher
needs for their students to help
move away from paper handouts
to something more secure and
reliable. The combination of the
individual space, content library and
collaboration space areas enable
me to use OneNote to help both my
own and my students’ organisation
and learning as outlined in this
eBook, but this time on a much
larger scale with correct permissions
in place to foster collaboration.
The process of setting up is quick
and simple. The three areas are
easily manageable and provide
students with the opportunity to
access information, develop work
collectively and enjoy working in
their own personal section, all within
one powerful notebook! I can easily
distribute work and monitor pupil
progress with all of my classes,
but my students benefit from using
this too. OneNote Class Notebook
organises and structures students
work, engages students in the
process of both independent and
collaborative learning, through a
modern digital process.
OneNote Class Notebook is
organised into three easy to use
spaces outline here.
The individual
space
This is the area in which students
complete their personal tasks
and assignments. Each student is
entirely responsible for their own
individual space (along with the
teacher), encouraging students
to take ownership and pride over
their own progress and notes whilst
increasing levels of engagement.
The individual space promotes
creativity within its flexible layout
giving students the freedom to
include information from various
mediums including text, screenshots,
photos and even audio recordings.
The individual space can be accessed
and edited by teachers, allowing
me to mark and provide feedback
directly onto the students work.
Helpfully, each contribution from
the students and myself is name
and time logged, allowing me to
monitor the progress and effort of
my students. Some teachers even
say that it is like a “window into their
students’ brains”!
COLLABORATIONINTHECLASSROOM
‘OneNote Class Notebooks have a personal workspace for every student, a content library
for handouts, and a collaboration space for lessons and creative activities.’
1
THE INDIVIDUAL SPACE ENCOURAGES PRIDE
AND OWNERSHIP OVER THEIR OWN PROGRESS

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Collaboration
space
This area, unlike the individual
space is an area that is opened and
accessible to all students within the
class. Group tasks and collaborative
learning can take place here and can
be accessed by students at anytime
and anywhere. Students can pose
questions to their peers in this area
and I, as the teacher can monitor
who is contributing answers and
responses to group activities.
Group tasks and peer assessment are
no longer restricted to a teacher’s
contact time. With an internet
connection and access to OneNote
(even from a mobile phone),
students’ group work can be
completed with ease whilst the
valuable skill of peer assessment can
be practiced at home and refined in
the classroom. By the time I arrive
at a lesson I already know how my
students group work is progressing
allowing more of my time to be
spent helping to improve their work,
rather than identifying the strengths
and weaknesses. Likewise as a
student arrives at the lesson they
will already know what areas they
must improve from the real-time
feedback that I have given in their
collaboration space. This enables
students to focus on a lesson
before it even begins, arriving
with pre-determined questions
and queries for how to improve
their work.
Content library
The content library is a space that
students can access but not edit or
contribute to. It is essentially the
information hub of the class.
The classroom teacher will
contribute resources, home learning
tasks and information such as past
papers and mark schemes that the
students can use. This is a highly
beneficial area for assignment based
activities, where specifications,
examples of previous students work
and frameworks for lesson plans
can all be stored to help students
progress. The key to this space
is that it is the teacher’s area.
They choose what is shown,
what is accessed and by whom.
OneNote Class Notebook offers the
student and the educator unrivalled
organisation and structure to
their work and assignments. With
students being able to access to
their work and resources being
available at anytime from anywhere,
I have seen the quality and standard
of submissions increase dramatically.
The fact that I can monitor the
students’ progress in individual
and group tasks more easily and
regularly allows the level and quality
and of my own feedback to improve.
OneNote Class Notebook promotes
collaborative learning in a modern
and engaging way and allows
students to feel empowered by the
responsibility and independence of
their learning.
The benefits of OneNote Class
Notebook can also be enjoyed by
educators and administrators in
schools through OneNote Staff
Notebook. Please see chapter 8 for
more details.
For more information and to create
a Class Notebook see:
And OneNote interactive guides
are available at:
COLLABORATIONINTHECLASSROOM
‘By the time I arrive at
a lesson I already know
how my students group
work is progressing.’
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
ONENOTE.COM/CLASSNOTEBOOK
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
ONENOTEFORTEACHERS.COM
32

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OneNote for
collective learning
OneNote enhances students’ opportunities
to participate in collective learning. It is the
digital notebook that allows students to
actively contribute their ideas into a shared
learning environment, both whilst inside
the classroom and at home. For me, using
OneNote in this way provides several clear
strengths, lets find out more...
Chapter 3

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The strengths of collective
learning on OneNote:
• It does not require using a
OneNote Class Notebook with
Office 365 and can therefore be
created without any prior setup.
• Students can contribute during
and outside of lessons.
• Enables the teacher or students to
effectively model their work live.
• Supports students with low-level
literacy skills by allowing for a
variety of differentiated roles
enabling them to contribute
in ways suitable to their skills.
• Learning is stored online and
is accessible to all students at
all times!
• Allows the teacher to easily
refer to previous work in future
lessons to help consolidate
learning gains.
…but how can I use OneNote
to enable collective learning?
Modelling
creativity
Modelling is an integral part of all
students’ learning, but modelling
does not need to come solely from
the teacher or the textbook.
How to do it:
For a quick and effective set up:
Create a notebook for your class.
Set up a task on a page.
Email your students a link.
First, as a personal recommendation,
I suggest including an additional
page with a mark scheme or level
descriptors, to enable your students’
work to be informed by their targets.
You might also decide to model a
response to give your students an
understanding of the expectation/
requirements of the task. This could
include a variety of levelled responses
to accommodate all of your learners.
In the following example, you will
see that students have written their
own messages in a bottle from
the stranded characters in Lord of
the Flies. This activity was a home
learning task that served as an
introduction to creative writing.
The additional page includes a
ladder of assessment criteria from
a B grade to an A although these can
of course be easily changed to suit
the needs of any individual learner.
Why it works:
Establishing a task such as this,
enables all students to see from the
perspective of the characters in this
novel. It also models the work of
other students allowing for learners
to take ideas from the work of their
peers. OneNote promotes students
to feel safe and comfortable when
browsing their peers work, as it can
be done anonymously, a challenge
for any classroom teacher. In this
example students could consider the
different possible letters from one
particular character to his friends and
family back home from each other’s
examples, opening their eyes to ideas
and viewpoints that they would not
normally have considered.
This was perfect for some of my
quieter, less confident students
who rarely share ideas in lessons.
They hugely benefited from
the different ideas and enjoyed
receiving positive feedback from
their classmates. I have used this
process to submit anonymous and
controversial responses which have
led to some rather interesting and
thought provoking discussions
amongst my students…
ONENOTEFORCOLLECTIVELEARNING
STUDENTS CAN CONTRIBUTE
DURING AND OUTSIDE OF LESSONS
1
2
3

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Project-based
learning
Project-based learning/research
projects are a popular and effective
tool within education. However,
monitoring and assessing progress,
whilst allowing your students the
responsibility of not only taking
their work home but looking after
it and ensuring it returns, is a
problem that faces all teachers.
OneNote is the solution.
How to do it:
The image shows a pair of
Media students’ mind map of
their initial ideas for a project.
This mind-map was placed onto a
page where other students in their
group were tasked with identifying the
texts necessary to support each idea.
If for instance, drama students
were tasked with finding images
that represented bravery for a
performance, they could take photos
on their phone, find worthy news
stories or YouTube videos and instantly
embed them onto their page for
others to see, prompting questioning,
high level thinking and the occasional
good laugh.
I have found that students are
highly motivated by project-based
learning on OneNote. They enjoy
and are highly engaged by the use of
technology and are clearly driven by
the ownership they have of their work.
As OneNote is accessible to students
on their phones it can be something
they check during their daily routine.
The instant nature of working
collectively on OneNote has really
appealed to the teenagers I work with
and some of the best examples of
work has stemmed from moments of
spontaneous creativity captured by
students on their mobiles.
Why it works:
As mentioned before, OneNote
allows project-based learning to
be accessible and organised for
students and teachers at all times.
When conducting a group research
project, the expectation that
students will organise themselves
to meet outside of class can be too
much for some. With OneNote
there can be no excuses. The instant
access that groups have to their
members and their work allows
students to contribute to projects at
a time that suits them. OneNote also
identifies to the teachers the levels
of contribution of each individual
member of the group. When
making this known to my classes
midway through a project, I have
seen rapid increases in the levels of
contribution from students who had
been riding the coattails of others.
The feedback that I have received
from my students regarding
OneNote’s role in project based
learning has been exceptional.
The additional level of responsibility
made them feel more ‘professional’
as they embarked on a series of
research tasks outside of the usual
lined paper exercise books they
were used to. The accountability
of individuals contributions to their
group was not only a comfort
for some, but a needed pressure
for others.
‘OneNote’s role
in project based
learning has
been exceptional.’
ONENOTEFORCOLLECTIVELEARNING

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Collective
annotation
Planning for an annotation activity
within learning often requires a
password and an amount of time
with a photocopier that teachers
just don’t have. OneNote allows the
full potential of annotation tasks
to be realised with none of the
paper work, departmental charges
or frustration as the photocopier
breaks down… again!
How to do it:
This example shows an annotated
paragraph of language techniques
from students on a PowerPoint
slide. As the teacher I have then
inserted this slide into a notebook
for the whole class to use. OneNote
allows me to access this work at any
time. So I could present this on the
board at a later date when students
are annotating a different passage
providing a strong exemplar to
work from, or they could access this
resource from home to help them
when revising for an upcoming
assessment.
This second example shows an
exam question on OneNote which
has been annotated by a GCSE
class. This picture has been taken
directly into OneNote from paper
using Office Lens. Circling key
words and deciphering what the
examiner is looking for in a response
are powerful and regularly used
teaching techniques in the run up
to exams, however using OneNote
allows me to create a bank of
annotated exam questions that the
students can refer to throughout
the year.
Why it works:
This provides a visual aid and promotes
a habit of the thought process that
students must go through when
considering a response. Students are
able to refer back to the annotations on
not only this example, but potentially
every past paper question ever asked.
The exposure to these past exam
questions in class and as home learning
is obviously a regular and effective
tool, however the effect of having an
instantly accessible bank of annotated
past exam questions provides an
invaluable resource to your students.
ONENOTEFORCOLLECTIVELEARNING
EXAMPLE 1
EXAMPLE 2

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Collective exam
responses
As teachers, providing our students
with a model answer to a past exam
question is a regular feature of
classroom learning, especially in the
run up to exam times. Let us think
for a second the power that this
process could hold if these model
answers were constructed by the
students for the students.
How to do it:
By providing the class with an exam/
assessment question, using OneNote
students can contribute a response
that can be seen by the whole class
and the teacher. These responses
could be a whole answer or focus on
a single point, however the impact
remains the same. The teacher, or
as I have found, more importantly
the students, can annotate and edit
each others responses. This is an
active process and can take as long
as the teacher deems necessary,
but what is created by the end of this
process is the same model answer,
developed by the students. This is a
high impact alternative of providing
an exemplary answer and one that
engages the students. I have set
this task both during lessons and
within none contact time. Using
technology such as Microsoft’s
Surface Pro 3, my students can
hand write their responses and see
these changes live on the board.
Activities such as these could also
be set as home learning tasks to be
completed as either a consolidation
exercise or prior to a lesson as
initial responses to gage the classes’
current levels of understanding.
Why it works:
This process enables all students not
only exposure to the model answer,
but an active role in constructing it.
I have found this to be an engaging
challenge for all abilities within
groups. Their collective responses
are saved and banked within
OneNote, allowing these to be
referred back to. OneNote provides
students with a greater sense
of achievement than if I myself
modelled an A grade response.
It also seems to jog their memory
a little more when we refer back as
these are their ideas and their work.
As students develop their responses,
the role of the teacher may be
active or passive however they are
always involved and can support by
prompting responses appropriately.
‘An engaging
challenge for
all abilities
within groups.’
BE MORE PRODUCTIVE
WITH PRODUCTS SUCH
AS THE SURFACE PRO 3
PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH A MODEL
ANSWER TO AN EXAM QUESTION
ONENOTEFORCOLLECTIVELEARNING
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

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Assessment for learning
OneNote can provide a way to organise and store
assessment for learning (AfL) from both inside and
outside of the classroom. Lets take a look...
Chapter 4

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Live images to
model progress
How to do it:
This simple process on OneNote has
completely transformed the way
I assess learning! By setting up a
task, modelling the beginning of a
response and then moving around
the classroom photographing
students’ work with my Microsoft
Surface Pro 3, AfL has become an
active and inclusive part of my
lessons. The images are instantly
inserted into a page in our shared
OneNote and are then screened
live on to the board for all students
to see.
There are ways of doing this if you’re
projecting from a device such as a
laptop that does not have a camera.
An example could be to use your
smart phone to take the photo and
insert it onto the relevant OneNote
page which is showing on the board.
This is a seamless process (like
uploading an image to social media)
and you can even get the OneNote
app to make the transition that
little bit faster, something I would
personally recommend.
The real beauty of this method
of AfL is that it is a live and
collaborative process shared
between students and the teacher.
In the image, students were
constructing graphs based on
power shifts within a transcript of
a conversation. As you can see,
the photos were uploaded at
regular intervals in the lesson so
that the overall progress of the
class is visibly assessed allowing
the stretching and supporting
of individuals. OneNote ensures
that the progress of the class is
stored and shared. They don’t
simply have an answer in their
books to refer back to, but a visible
resource that demonstrates their
progress, complete with teacher
and peer feedback of how they
got there.
Why it works:
This method of AfL engages
students because they are
consistently referring to their
personal class work – thus making
it more relevant to them.
The visibility of progress helps
the students cement their learning
gains, because they have evidence
of why and how they got there
and have visual aids to support
a repeated effort. A task
such as this, that allows both
student assessment and teacher
assessment simultaneously is
extremely effective. Students
must be active in this process
as passivity is clear and obvious
whilst the teacher’s involvement
maintains the relevance of
responses, ensuring that the
objectives of the lesson are met.
ASSESSMENTFORLEARNING
‘OneNote
has completely
transformed the
way I assess learning!’
THE OVERALL PROGRESS OF THE CLASS
IS VISIBLY ASSESSED

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Annotating to
assess learning
How to do it:
As chapter 3 presented, annotating
examples within OneNote is a
strong teaching tool and enables
students to see their knowledge and
understanding grow. I have used
the tags on OneNote to encourage
students to identify specific features
in an example – e.g. using the tick
icon to identify effective language
techniques in a passage. Students
could also differentiate their
annotations by doing so in different
colours based on the teacher’s
levelled outcomes. An example of
this is shown in the image where, as
the level of annotations increases
students are able to build on their
work in different colours to reflect
their progress. The image shows that
students have completed the first
requirement on the mark scheme:
to identify language features in
a transcript. From this, they can
consider the speaker’s purpose in
a different colour (red) and then
finally reach the A grade answer
by evaluating of the impact of
the quote in green.
Why it works:
Annotation within AfL is nothing
new or profound but by using
OneNote to complete these tasks
the effects are more profound.
Students are accustomed to
annotation tasks so the transfer
to OneNote is instant making an
invaluable revision and reflection
tool. Students enjoy the visual
representation of their progress
and feel empowered when they see
their comments appear on the page
screened live. Using class responses
in OneNote encourages a dialogue
between the students creating a
much more collaborative and shared
experience to the more conventional
annotation tasks. I have found that
when working with a device such as
my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 that a
pass the parcel type activity engages
students. They don’t even need to
move from their seats to contribute
to the collective annotation!
Diverting the
learning route
How to do it:
Teachers often find themselves
straying from their initial plan in
response to their students’ progress.
OneNote enables a teacher to
change the route of their lesson
easily and effectively by providing
them with a means to organise and
bank their differentiated resources.
On my OneNote I have various
pages under the same lesson folder
which I may go to depending on
my students’ progress. A lesson is
never the same with two classes,
so if something has not quite been
digested or the students find it
too easy, I can quickly access a
resource to support/stretch them.
Whilst teaching, having OneNote
in my back pocket provides me
with a variety of differentiated tasks
suitable for different levels at the
push of a button.
Why it works:
Prior to OneNote, I often felt
that if I had to explain things in a
different way I was digressing from
my plan. My teaching felt suddenly
unplanned and underprepared
which particularly as an NQT heaped
unwanted additional pressure onto
my shoulders. OneNote became my
safety net. Once AfL begins in my
lessons, I have the knowledge that I
have many differentiated resources
at my disposal to steer my students
towards. Similarly this can provide
a motivation for my students or a
home learning task. For instance is
there a more challenging page/task
they could try for home learning
now that they have grasped the
basics? Which leads me to my final
note on AfL…
ASSESSMENTFORLEARNING
C GRADE: Identify the language
features in the transcript. Make
a clear comment.
B GRADE: Analyse the impact
of the language feature and
consider the speaker’s purpose.
A GRADE: Evaluate. How effective
is the quote in achieving the
speaker’s purpose?

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Assessing the
progress of home
learning and
project work
How to do it:
Creating home learning pages
on OneNote allows unrivalled
access to students’ home learning
responses. As the teacher I can
see not only when a student has
accessed the page but their draft
responses throughout the process.
The same is true for project based
learning. By using OneNote I can
see the progress of my students at
anytime I want, and do not have to
wait for the periodic hand in dates.
OneNote also allows me to place
relevant resources in the folder that
may help with a student’s response.
This could be text from a previous
lesson or even a recent newspaper
article or YouTube video.
Why it works:
I must confess (don’t tell anyone!),
I have in the past been guilty of
setting generic home learning tasks.
OneNote works for students because
they experience more personalised
homework. The teacher can present
them with a variety of levelled tasks
allowing the students to decide
which is the most appropriate
challenge to them.
It also improves their organisation
and ensures that the classic excuse
of “my dog ate my homework” can
never be used, as their work is stored
and handed in for them. No teacher
can assess students’ progress if their
work has been forgotten… home
learning via OneNote has solved
this. For the teacher, using OneNote
is like hiring a private detective.
Just by browsing a Classbook I know
who has and has not attempted the
work, when they attempted it and
how much they completed each
time! From this through assessment,
I can quickly understand the pace
of their progress which in turn aids
the quality and pitch of my lessons.
The same is true for project based
learning. I can monitor and assess
at will the needs and progress of
my students and provide them with
prompts and questions, even during
non-contact hours.
“I can see the
progress of
my students
at anytime.”
UNRIVALLED ACCESS TO STUDENTS’
HOME LEARNING RESPONSES
ASSESSMENTFORLEARNING

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OneNote for peer assessment
Chapter 5

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19education OneNote in education
Peer assessment is used as an
alternative but effective way of
teaching students what is required
to succeed when answering
questions. If a student can identify
the strengths and critique the
weaknesses of their peers’ work,
then this understanding can be
applied to improving their own
work. OneNote brings this into a
single digital space creating a hassle
free and accessible way to peer
assess. As a digital space, there is no
need for students to be swapping
exercise books and they are able to
peer assess from any device in the
classroom or at home. Distributing
books, organising who’s going to
work with who, and handing out the
all-important coloured pens may in
fact (especially with certain classes!)
take more time and energy in the
lesson than the peer assessment
itself.
Students’ work is shared in a
collective space on OneNote.
Using OneNote’s tags constructive
feedback is structured and easy to
follow. Often I ask my students to
provide feedback to two or three
of their peers to increase their
exposure to varied responses.
I would recommend providing
an additional page on OneNote
for a mark scheme that the
students can access and refer
to whilst peer assessing.
The example demonstrates
OneNote’s collective nature of peer
assessment, with students providing
different feedback to a variety of
student work. This has proved highly
effective with my less confident
students as they do not need to
identify themselves when providing
the feedback and therefore their
levels of contribution increase.
My high end learners are often
challenged with individualised tasks
such as peer assessing a greater
number of examples or transferring
B grade work to A grade work.
OneNote’s tags encourage students
to cover a variety of areas in their
feedback. The tags show the students
what is required for detailed feedback
and can also be differentiated to
represent different levels of thinking.
As you can see in the example,
the tags promote questioning
(the question mark), the giving and
sharing of ideas (the light bulb icon)
and the positive features of their
work (the tick/star). I have found that
students respond well to the tags,
enjoying the similarities they share
with emoticons on social media.
On OneNote, feedback can be more
visually appealing not only through
the use of tags but also the students’
ability to position their responses
around the work. They are also
free to build on the feedback of
others. Perhaps they can strengthen
someone’s idea or help to answer
a question that has been posed.
The tags have proved a fantastic
support system to students who
require more scaffolding into peer
assessment. They can use the tags to
structure the feedback they give but
also the tags construct a student’s
‘to do list’ creating a step by step
approach to improvements.
The tags also function as my direct
link to students who require teacher
support during peer assessment.
I can search for tags/ buzz words
within student feedback (all which
have been previously discussed with
the class) and can then assist the class
throughout by responding quickly
to their questions. An example of
this could be a student struggling
to peer assess the use of metaphors
in a response. By writing the phrase
“help metaphor” on their work when
I search for “help metaphor” I am
instantly shown a list of the students
who are struggling at this aspect
without the need to read through
everybody’s work.
I have found peer assessment on
OneNote particularly supportive
with groups as they complete
projects. Peer assessment has
enabled me to check their
understanding of the mark scheme
and has also enabled me to identify
individual strengths within the class.
I can direct students to good
examples of each section of the
project and encourage them to take
notes and apply what they’ve read
to their own work. Students seem to
respond more positively to examples
of work when it has been written by
their peers rather than the teacher or
the textbook example.
ONENOTEFORPEERASSESSMENT
‘The tags have
proved a fantastic
support system.’
WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR
DETAILED FEEDBACK?

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Independent learning
Chapter 6

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21education OneNote in education
INDEPENDENTLEARNING
Independent learning greatly
benefits students, however as all
teachers are aware the challenge lies
in how to monitor the quality of the
work without taking up too much
valuable class time.
With OneNote students continue to
enjoy the increased sense of control
over their work that independent
learning provides. Their notebook
becomes their own space and unlike
their exercise book, it is easy to keep
neat! Unlike waving good bye to
the student and their exercise book
at the classroom door and devising
ways to try and monitor the work in
the next lesson, with OneNote when
the students arrive for class, I am one
step ahead and already up to date
with the progress of their work.
As you can see in the image, each
student can see their work develop
with each draft due to the organised
layout of pages. In this instance after
reading the students work all that
was required was a quick prompt
to push the student towards higher
thinking. I did not have to wait for
the hand in date to see this in class.
This meant that when they arrived
at my lesson, less time was spent
marking the work and more time
was spent improving it, making
the most out of the limited contact
time that I have at my disposal.
Furthermore the little and often
approach to marking independent
learning actually considerably
lessened the amount of time needed
to mark the work at the final hand
in date. The main reason for this is
that all of my previous feedback has
either been completed or is visible
instantly and does not require me
to re-read work.
Independent learning on OneNote
fits into the students’ schedule as
they can access it anywhere on a
variety of devices that they find
engaging. As OneNote enables
you to insert media in a variety of
ways students can store their work
and research in exciting ways. For
example if interviewing someone
or wanting to make notes quickly
then they can record their voice
and insert it into their page as a
dictation.
If working from the OneNote
app students are not restricted
to working in internet zones
which gives them the freedom to
contribute to their work whenever
and wherever they feel inspired to
do so (you may be surprised).
In media studies I have been
impressed by student submissions
that included live but relevant
events that they thought would help
them. One example was a student
who recorded a flash mob fashion
show in a shopping mall on their
phone, which they later analysed for
a representation of ethnicity project.

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Independent learning on OneNote
ensures greater accountability over
students work. There is no lost work
and students take responsibility over
their pages as the teacher can see
not only every contribution made
but when these are made. With the
accessibility of OneNote both on
and off line, students have no
excuse not to complete tasks and
cannot forget to submit work as
the submission is automatic. In
addition to this each student log
in and submission is time and date
logged and accessible to the teacher
at all times.
OneNote is a highly effective
revision tool. After each lesson I
upload all lesson resources onto our
OneNote shared page for students
to revisit in the run up to exams or
to collaborate their learning.
The OneNote search bar allows
students to independently locate
any resources that they may need
during revision. This can include
PowerPoint slides, task materials
and even other students work and
feedback (if this has been made
accessible by the teacher). As a
teacher you soon get an idea of
which students are being proactive
in their revision.
WHATISONENOTE?
‘...ensures greater
accountability over
students work.’
INDEPENDENTLEARNING

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OneNote for providing
invaluable feedback
Chapter 7

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24education OneNote in education
Effective feedback is a crucial part
of improving learning however it
often feels time-consuming and
repetitive to both the teacher and
student. Clear proof that feedback
has had a positive impact can be
difficult to attain. Students want to
see that their changes have been
successful whilst the teacher wants
to see that the changes have been
made. OneNote provides a platform
that allows feedback to be quick,
varied and engaging and is effective
and visible throughout students’
work. It is collated in one digital
space so the concern that work is
completed once and never seen
again is no more, and the dreaded
marking sweep is a pain free positive
professional experience.
Audio feedback
For the students who glance at
their final grade disregarding the
time-consuming detailed feedback
that we teachers type away there
is a genius solution! OneNote
enables the teacher to provide
audio-feedback. To ensure that
your students are taking in every
target you can possibly give them
I would suggest recording your
feedback and then asking students
to bullet point what they are
required to do to improve.
This encourages students to focus
on the qualitative feedback not
merely their summative assessment
or grade.
Live teacher
feedback as “coach”
OneNote provides instant and direct
access for the teacher to each of
their student’s work. This access can
be utilised both in a classroom and
outside of it. The teacher has access to
all students’ work and can provide live
and instant feedback like a coach in or
outside of the class. Students can pose
questions which can be answered by
the teacher and vice versa to cement
understanding. This process is individual,
instant and private, a real positive for
students lacking in confidence when
performed in class time. Within higher
education this process can be utilised to
offer private tutorials without the need
for both parties to meet. I have found
this very beneficial for my A level groups
during their non-contact time or when
setting research tasks.
ONENOTEFORPROVIDINGINVALUABLEFEEDBACK

25.
25education OneNote in education
Tags toolkit
As you can see in the image, the tags
support me in providing specific
and constructive feedback. It also
lays the feedback out in a way that is
easy for students to digest.
Familiarising students with the
different tags is a quick and easy
process and I have heard of other
teachers issuing a key resource for
the tags, although I believe these to
be self explanatory.
Monitoring
feedback
With OneNote I am able to monitor
the progress made by my students
in their redrafts quicker and more
easily than before. I can instantly
identify if my feedback has been
taken on board and implemented
into improved learning gains.
Additionally clear, implemented and
readily available feedback supports
my professional profile as I am able
to evidence a variety of effective
marking and feedback techniques
even with short notice. The example
(left, bottom) shows several redrafts
of a student’s assignment. With each
page they have understood and
implemented the feedback that
I had previously given to them.
If called for a marking sweep, I can
print off both pages and show the
teacher student dialogue within my
marking. The evidence we often
need as teachers is stored and
accessible. More importantly than
this however is each student’s ability
to reflect on their progress, with
reference to their clear and visible
improvements. Students understand
how and why they gained their
grade and what they need to do to
improve, developing the process of
their learning.
The platform that OneNote
provides in giving feedback is
arguably its most beneficial feature.
Never before have I seen such
engagement from my students
when responding to feedback
through the use of tags, or such
an impact in the success of their
responses. The accountability
of their contributions and their
responsibility in looking after their
own Notebook breeds pride and
progress, something that I had not
anticipated. It has and continues to
save me time planning and marking
for lessons, but also in compiling
evidence that I am providing
effective feedback for my own
professional accountability.
ONENOTEFORPROVIDINGINVALUABLEFEEDBACK
STUDENTS CAN REFLECT ON
THEIR PROGRESS MORE EASILY

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OneNote for the teacher
and administrator –
OneNote Staff Notebook
Chapter 8

27.
27education OneNote in education
OneNote for a
one of a kind
organisation
OneNote has made organisation
easy and enjoyable. I have used
OneNote to take notes at my
meetings linked to my Outlook
diary, including all the necessary
information like attendees and
agenda. With OneNote these are
stored, accessible and structured
chronologically for when I need
to refer back to them. If I want to
share notes with other staff I can
conveniently send them a link to the
notebook where the notes from the
meeting are displayed or email the
page, if there are lagging OneNote
adopters in my meeting group.
Alternatively, an audio function
is available for me to record the
key messages and information,
linked directly to any other notes
transcribed as I am recording.
This has been an invaluable tool
when on the go, and myself and
my colleagues have often found
listening back to key points from
meetings just as effective if not more
so when organising faculty actions.
Creating and storing lesson plans
on OneNote enables the teacher to
organise their resources and lessons
into their own digital goldmine.
Just like on standard word processing
devices lesson plan templates can
be created and edited so that I can
scribble or type my ideas quickly.
These templates provide me with a
visual of the direction and aims of
lessons as we move towards an exam
or controlled assessment. However
by storing and creating lesson
plans on OneNote these plans can
be accessed on any device at any
time, by any member of staff who
may need them. Resources can be
attached to each lesson and the ease
in which to flick through previous
lessons from the scheme allows me
to know exactly where my students
are, where they need to go and most
importantly how they are going
to best get there. Teaching is a full
time profession and inspiration for
lesson tasks are found at all times
and often in the least convenient
places. OneNote’s accessibility allows
those moments of inspiration to
be documented, shared and stored
instantly on the lesson template
anytime, anywhere.
Whole staff CPD sessions are
becoming more regular and more
dynamic and with teaching now
firmly embedded in evidenced
performance based pay Microsoft’s
OneNote becomes the easy to
access, easy to use archive that
teachers need. I have stored and
shared my CPD experiences and
resources from valuable sessions
and have clear and structured
evidence that I am developing as a
professional and working towards
my performance targets. OneNote
isn’t the only way that teachers can
store these resources but being
instantly accessible, easily navigated
and searchable, whilst being highly
reliable with its cloud based back
up, OneNote allows me to utilise
training resources and rest assured
that my hard work is safe.
The OneNote
workload
As a teacher I found myself craving
software that would help me control
my workload. It is too easy to feel
overwhelmed by a to-do list and to
find that the relationship between
your work life and your social life
is taking the unwanted and unfair
swing the wrong way. Unfortunately,
OneNote is not a magician and
cannot magic away your workload,
but it can help dramatically cut
down on the administrative and
organisational time lost. It is that
simple. Using Microsoft OneNote
will save you time. The tool is
convenient, simple and accessible
due to its availability on all devices.
OneNote puts the teacher back in
control and away from an office
desk decorated in colourful sticky
notes. Everything I need is in one
manageable place and I can work at
a time that suits me. I am no longer
reliant upon accessing the office or
staff room to collect my class work.
In fact with classwork saved digitally
I could have all of my students
marking in my pocket without
the need to carry my class books
in boxes to the car. My workload
instantly feels metaphorically and
physically lighter allowing me to go
home at a weekend with less of a
sore back and heavy heart.
ONENOTEFORTHETEACHERANDADMINISTRATOR
‘lesson plan templates can be created and edited so that I can scribble or type my ideas quickly.’

28.
28education OneNote in education
Class Notebook
inspires a Staff
Notebook!
The success of the Class Notebook
brought to light that education needs
collaboration and digital organisation
to enhance the education of our
students. Staff Notebook caters
to these needs for the educator,
the administrator and the leaders
within education. The nature of
OneNote encourages teachers to
share resources in its easily accessible
digital space. Links to lesson plans,
meeting notes and training that staff
have undergone can be placed in
one shared space, making it easier
and more effective for staff and
schools to share good practice.
Staff Notebook makes it easier to
share the experiences of CPD and
with members of your department
and the wider school. Some schools
are even beginning to archive and
share their lead practitioners’ lesson
observations for training purposes,
highlighting key areas such as
questioning within lessons. This is
where Staff Notebook provides its
greatest opportunities allowing all
staff to collaborate, share ideas,
examples of good practice and
support one another in a consistent
whole school approach to teaching.
OneNote Staff
Notebook
Microsoft’s OneNote Staff Notebook
is structured in such a way that all
members of staff from support
to head teacher can benefit
and contribute to it. Like a Class
Notebook, Staff Notebook has the
same structure of both shared and
private spaces. In what can feel like
a high paced and frantic
environment, the chance to share
ideas with colleagues in schools
can often pass you by, despite
us all knowing the importance
and value of such conversations.
Staff Notebook ensures that the
worthwhile and valuable messages,
practices and resources are shared
and accessible to all members
of staff and allows the school to
be consistent in its approach to
education. Staff Notebook provides
a three layered approach to this
collaborative effort.
The individual,
private space
The individual space is your
personalised section of the
notebook. Curriculum and
pastoral leaders can contribute
to these spaces with essential
materials such as sections for
pastoral notes, performance
management and even a space
specific to their individual role
within the school, but the space
is essentially yours to do as you
please and can be edited to suit
your individual roles and needs.
One way in which I have used this
space in collaboration with my
pastoral leaders, was to update
a pupil behaviour tracker for
students in my form who were
on behaviour report. This allows
me to see the students in the
year group who are on report
promoting a consistent approach,
but also allows the pastoral
leaders to have an up to date and
easily accessible document with
all relevant information such as
student performance and tutor
contact home. The importance of
liaising with staff regarding pupil
behaviour is clear, but OneNote
Staff Notebook makes this process
hassle-free and instant.
ONENOTEFORTHETEACHERANDADMINISTRATOR
1

29.
29education OneNote in education
The collaboration space
The collaboration space is an area
that is designed to be accessed
and updated by all members
of staff. This area really does
strengthen the cooperation and
communication across a whole
school, but can also be created
for individual departments,
pastoral and support groups.
The notebook offers a shared
area for teachers to contribute
towards resources, schemes of
learning and discussions and can
be used as an information archive
or as live working documents,
like meeting notes and shared
initiatives. The collaboration space
is a brilliant way to store and
share departmental resources and
lesson plans as well as any other
documents that require staff input.
The collaboration space can be a
whole school area allowing school
wide communication and input
but are often ran or organised by
pastoral and curriculum leaders
with areas for individual staff input,
once again strengthening the
communication across a body of
staff. The key to the collaboration
space is that it allows and
encourages individual staff input
whilst remaining a structured and
formal environment often dictated
by senior members of staff. Using a
collaboration space ensures that all
staff have a voice, can contribute
to and challenge information that
they see and most importantly all
work together in a consistent and
universal manner to provide the
best service for their students.
The content
library
This space is essentially the information
hub of the school and provides you
with easy and instant access anywhere,
anytime to anything that has been
deemed important or necessary by
the creators of the page. This could
be faculty-based, pastoral or school-
wide with open access for members of
staff to view and share the important
documents and information. Policy
documents, information packs and
other key school documents can be
stored and accessed by staff in a quick
and easy manner.
Working examples of the content
library include accessing minutes
from staff briefings and meetings,
preparation for CPD sessions and
staff induction packs for new staff
members to name a few. Unlike the
individual and collaborative spaces,
the content library is not designed
to be edited on mass by members
of staff but to be an easily
accessible and central location
for what is deemed as important
and necessary information by
senior members of staff.
For more information on Staff
Notebook and guidance on how to
create a Staff Notebook please visit:
ONENOTEFORTHETEACHERANDADMINISTRATOR
2
3
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
ONENOTE.COM/STAFFNOTEBOOKEDU

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