Summer nears its end, green leaves begin to wither. The warm air becomes cooler, sharper: fall is upon us. Internships finish, vacations end. A new chapter begins.
Now, listen closer. Can you hear what we’re hearing? Bells ringing, loud clanging echoes through the hallways. Feet shuffle into a lecture hall, voices murmur behind the professor’s oration. “How was your summer?” a question between friends reunited. Welcome Back to School.
But how do you survive the onslaught of classes to take, clubs to join, and people to meet this school year? If you’re the type of person asking these questions, Goodnotes has your back.
This year, we’re committed to making life lighter for every student. One of our first orders of business? This comprehensive Back-to-School Survival Guide. As university gates reopen and classes begin, here are five things every returning student needs to consider:
Lock In for Greatness
Staying focused on school can be tough. But it’s easy to overthink this. How to stay focused and motivated can actually be quite simple. After all, what is it that the kids say nowadays? You just need to LOCK IN.
To master productivity and the ‘grindset’, you just need to give it a shot — hunker down and do the work. If there’s any confusion, we’re here to demystify it. Here’s how to lock in for greatness:
There are two types of people in this world: Academic Weapons and Academic Victims.
The former takes education by the horns and thrives, while the latter suffers from burnout. School is stressful and we all know that. But here’s how to come out on top — read “How to Become an Academic Weapon This School Year.”
Say it with me: I am an ABSOLUTE ACADEMIC WEAPON.
Homework? Finished. Exam? Aced. Hotel? Trivago — Ambassadors? Locked in.
No better place to get study tips than from *actual students* themselves. Wanna know the best practices for focusing on school and locking in? See what the Goodnotes Ambassadors, representing universities across the globe, have to say.
Read more:
- There’s so little time and so much to do! We’ve got you covered. Whether you’re a working professional or a high school student, here are 11 tips and strategies for managing your tasks, time, and workflow.
- Rory Gilmore once said “Who cares if I’m pretty if I fail my finals?” At Goodnotes, we believe that inspiration can come from unexpected places. For more, see the 11 pop culture icons who lock in and study hard too.
A lighter way to take notes
Picture this: no textbooks, no lost paper notes, everything is stored safely in the cloud. Digital paper, first and foremost, is a lighter way to take notes. No paper in landfills, nothing lost, all accessible from a lightweight tablet screen.
The verdict is in: the iPad makes school life lighter.
Here’s how to take notes on an iPad — and to help you make the most of it, we’ve also covered the best note-taking methods for college students and serious note-takers.
You wouldn’t want it any other way: How to use Cornell Notes
Here’s another way to make the most out of a lighter note-taking experience — with a clear format for key points and summaries, Cornell notes boost comprehension and retention. Here’s the best way to take notes, explained.
Read more:
- A note-taking tool for the creative at heart. Mind mapping can revolutionize the way you gather, summarize, and explore information — learn more about this perfect tool for brainstorming, planning, and learning.
- Here’s a secret note-taking tip that you don’t know yet: the Zettelkasten method. Read our beginner’s guide.
Back-to-school essentials, but for 2024
We all used to shop before the school season started — new stationery, new notepads, new books, you know the kind!
But it’s 2024. More and more schools are using learning management systems like Canvas and Moodle to share assignments and class material. An increasing number of students are using tablets and digital paper to take notes. Times have changed — back-to-school shopping needs to adapt to the incredibly digitized educational experience.
On the top of our shopping list? A stylus + digital stationery
What’s better than a pen that never runs out of ink? A pen that also functions as a pencil, eraser, and highlighter too!
Because it can be used in so many ways, a stylus is essentially a digital pencil case. (And it’s even better with digital stationery like drafting paper or protractors).
Read our guide on the best styluses for iPads and other tablets, and all the digital stationery you need to buy this school year.
Running out of stickers is a thing of the past
90/00s kids know this scenario best: you have a sticker pack that you love, but you’re too afraid that it’ll run out. And alas, the sticker pack is never used, and is left forgotten in your drawer.
This school year, a digital sticker pack might be right for you: check out our curated list of 11 digital sticker packs (they’ll never run out!).
Bonus: Editable stickers! Now on the Goodnotes Marketplace! Read our guide on how to use them and download our exclusive back-to-school sticker pack just for Goodnotes users.
Read more:
- What’s the best iPad for college students? We weigh in on everything that’s currently available on the market and give our verdict.
The only study tips you’ll need
You have the technology and the techniques. Now what?
Part of the challenge in acing this back-to-school season is in making sure that the study environment works for you. How do you curate good habits? How do you make sure the class material enters your brain and is retained?
Here’s how to learn anything: use the Feynman Technique
Richard Feynman ‘The Smartest Man in the World,’ had his own study method named the Feynman Technique. Follow his example, and you can become the “Smartest Person In The World” too.
How do they do it in the Ivy League?
Students at top universities weigh in: here’s how to study like a Harvard student.
Read more:
- More often than not, you learn with active recall — it’s when you’re making an effort to remember something you've learned once before. Here are 7 ways to apply the technique when studying.
- If a lot of learning is going digital, then your learning environment should too. Here are the 11 best “study with me” YouTube Channels and Livestreams.
- You’re using flashcards, but are you making the most of them? Using flashcards to revise terms and concepts isn’t just enough — try studying more effectively with digital flashcards.
The right way to use AI
Since ChatGPT made headlines in late 2022, it’s clear that GenAI is here to stay. In the case of learning, the next question to consider is, how do we use AI the right way?
We’ve all seen it: students who use AI to write essays for them or use it to complete their homework. But by depriving students of the critical thinking process needed for learning, such practices lead to poor results.
For us at Goodnotes, we’re all about using AI as a tool and enhancer (and not a replacement) for education. We know by now that AI can’t replace our own brainwork at school; but what it can do is make life lighter. That means it helps us learn faster, tackle problems more efficiently, and understand more difficult concepts.
Your AI study buddy will see you now.
Here’s a sneak peek of a new feature in the works: Introducing Ask Goodnotes. Put simply, it’s your own productivity assistant that can retrieve and use any of the information in your notes within seconds.
Get early access to the beta and see the magic for yourself…
- Open a notebook
- Click on the sidebar
- Select join the waitlist
- You’re in!
Due to regional restriction not all countries can have access to this feature yet. Learn more here.
Think you know note-taking? Think again.
Generative artificial intelligence isn’t just dominating our news pages, it’s transforming the way we take notes, helping you organize your writing and spend less time searching for information. We’ve curated a list of the 15 AI note-taking apps guaranteed to change your life.
Read more:
- We have an AI math assistance function, built into Goodnotes 6. Read more on our AI math feature here.
- 2024 has been a great year for new technology. For one, the Apple Pencil Pro came out! Here’s everything you can do with the Apple Pencil Pro in Goodnotes.
Lastly, the note-taking app that makes life lighter
Goodnotes is used by millions of students all over the world as a key part of their back to school arsenal.
Here's how Goodnotes makes life lighter for students:
- Lighten the load you have to carry: Instead of carrying numerous textbooks and notebooks for each class, you can store everything in Goodnotes on your iPad or tablet.
- Lighten the mental load from school: With audio recording and transcription for lectures, handwritten search for all notes, and study features like Study Sets (flashcards), you can take a breather knowing that Goodnotes is there to help you record and absorb information.
- Lighten your impact on the environment: Digitize everything and leave paper behind.