OneNote Overview

Good teachers are prepared, organized, creative, resourceful and collaborative. OneNote, from Microsoft, encompasses all of those traits into one structured app. From the planning/creating lessons stage, to the presentation of the lesson to students, to the distribution of assignments, to communication with parents, to reflecting on how the knowledge was received; OneNote offers it all with an easy learning curve. Teachers can download this software and have access to numerous technology tools to implement their lessons in a variety of ways. Videos, audio clips, articles and
drawing tools are all available with a click of a button. Everything for a lesson is conveniently in one place, with organized tabs and the ability to share/edit information with students and colleagues through the OneNote class notebook.

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One example of how OneNote would be an excellent software choice for a music educator, is to implement it as a beneficial resource for a substitute (especially one without a music background), if the music educator is absent for any length of time. The music educator would lose little instruction time, even in his absence, if he created the lesson using OneNote. He could make an audio file of his voice lecturing or giving instructions, maybe insert a YouTube video, add rehearsal tracks, maybe an interactive assignment, and provide additional work under the Homework Tab which could be graded from the comforts of home. Skype is also available through OneNote, so interacting with another ensemble or another director for immediate feedback is available.