How to take notes in an online class without falling behind

An online class looks easier to note-take in. You can pause, rewind and have your notes next to the video. In practice it is easier to drift. There is no room full of people to keep you honest, the recording will "always be there", and your notes end up as a transcript you never read. Here is a way to keep notes short, honest and useful, whatever type of class you are in.

Start with the format

Online classes come in three shapes, and each needs a different move.

Format	Main risk	Best move
Live video class	You cannot pause, so you copy or you zone out	Short phrases, a ?? mark for anything missed, fix gaps after class
Recorded lecture	You watch passively and take too many notes	Pause every 5 to 10 minutes and summarise in your own words
Self-paced course (readings, short videos, quizzes)	Notes pile up late or never happen	Take notes while you work through each lesson and set weekly time slots

Before you press play

The Missouri State handout hosted by John Carroll University has two simple prep moves:

• Print the slides or lecture notes if they exist, so you can write only what the speaker adds.
• Remove the distractions. It suggests not attending class from bed, putting the phone on do not disturb, and using a website blocker if you need one (it adds a reminder to research any software before downloading it).

Add a layout trick of our own: put the video on one half of the screen and your notes on the other, or keep paper beside the keyboard. Switching windows constantly is how you lose the thread.

During a live class: short phrases and a gap marker

UNC says that watching a lecture live, without pausing or rewinding, can help you focus on what is important enough to write down. That is the upside of live. The downside is you cannot rewind a missed point. So when you lose the thread:

1. Write ?? and a two-word clue ("p-value def").
2. Keep going. Do not try to catch up.
3. After class, fill the gap from the recording, the slides or a classmate.

Use the chat. Questions you type into the chat are free notes, and they are your own words. Copy any link posted there into your notes at once.

During a recorded lecture: the pause rhythm

This is where most online note-takers go wrong. They let the video run, scribble everything and end up with a transcript. The Missouri State handout offers a better rhythm:

1. Watch for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Pause.
3. Summarise what it means, in your own words.
4. Press play.

Add UNC's timestamp tip: log the time for any part you want to revisit. After the whole lecture, use the rewind feature to plug in the major gaps. UNC adds that good notes can spare you from pausing, rewinding and rewatching large chunks, and that captions can help you review a recording.

A worked example

Imagine a 40-minute recorded lecture on how sampling works in statistics. Here is a page after the pause rhythm, with timestamps. This is an illustrative example we made up.

STATS WK 4: SAMPLING   (watched Tue)
03:10  population vs sample: sample = the part you actually measure
08:45  why random: every person has equal chance -> less bias
        my words: random = no one picks "the easy ones"
14:20  ?? stratified vs cluster, mixed them up -> REWIND
21:05  sample size: bigger helps, but bad sampling stays bad
        example: 1,000 volunteers online != random
33:30  quiz hint from prof: "know the bias types" *
SUMMARY: a sample only helps if it was chosen fairly.
TO ASK: when would I use cluster in real life?

Notice what is missing: no sentence copied from the speaker. What is present: timestamps you can jump to, one flagged gap, one exam hint, a question.

During a self-paced course

There is no lecturer, so the pace is yours and the risk is that nothing gets written. The Alabama course page says taking notes keeps you attentive and connected to what you already know, and that students who take and review their notes perform best. Its options are a simple list of key points, an outline, a concept map or a three-section page with notes, questions and a summary. Choose one for the whole course so your pages look the same each week.

The Missouri State handout also suggests setting a fixed schedule, because flexible time is easy to lose. It proposes treating it like time you would have spent in a classroom, and it gives 1 to 1.5 hours, two or three days a week, per class as its suggestion. Use that as a starting point and adjust to your course.

After class: the one-day fix

UNC recommends going back over notes within a day or two. Keep it short:

1. Fix anything unreadable while you still remember.
2. Fill the ?? gaps using the recording, slides or readings.
3. Write three sentences at the top: what this session was about, what you still do not get, what you will do next.
4. Save the notes where you can find them. One folder per course, one file per session, named with the week and the topic.

Also ask questions. The Missouri State handout encourages online office hours and emails, even if it feels uncomfortable. A written question is also a note.

The loose ends online classes create

Online classes leak small tasks: a link in the chat, a deadline in an announcement, a reading someone mentioned, a screenshot of a slide, a form to fill. These do not belong on your lecture page. Put them in one place straight after class. A two-minute brain dump works, and so does the prompts and timer tool with the "study" topic selected. Then pick two or three for today, as in what to do after a brain dump.

This is the job Nom is built for. It will not record your lecture. It takes the links, screenshots and spoken to-dos around it, files them, and turns the big ones into tiny quests with a first move. When you need that link again, ask for it the way you would ask a friend.

Common mistakes

• Copying the transcript. If you could get it from the captions, you do not need to write it.
• Letting the recording be your excuse. "I'll rewatch it" turns every lecture into two lectures.
• Notes spread over five apps. Pick one place for lecture notes and one for loose ends.
• Skipping the review. Both UNC and the Alabama page say review is where notes pay off.

For the in-person version of the same ideas, see how to take notes in class. If you are unsure whether to write by hand, handwritten vs typed notes summarises what the research says.