Sketchnoting, in its purest form, is creating a personal visual story as one is listening to a speaker or reading a text. Sketchnoting gives students a reason to rest their eyes on something other than their computers. They’re actively listening and creating a visual representation of what they’re learning while continuing to stay engaged in class.

Sketchnoting doesn’t just lead to gains in keeping students’ attention, it’s a useful way for learners to organize and retain information.  While classic note-taking usually has a more rigid structure of lines and lines of text – and can border on the edge of transcription – sketchnoting is non-linear, creating different opportunities to identify connections between topics and themes. Students can use spacing, symbols, and text size to create a hierarchy of information that might be harder to capture in linear text.

Like all new skills, using sketchnoting as a tool to actively engage with classroom information takes a bit of practice for teachers and students alike. Sketchnoting allows both teachers and students to see the nuances in how people process the same information.