Columns - Cornell Notes 4+

The missing Cornell Notes app

Lawrence Weru

    • 4.3 • 19 Ratings
    • $0.99

Screenshots

Description

Surprise price drop. Just like 'Oppenheimer' swept the Oscars, Columns sweeps away the competition in notetaking, and your heart.

Featured by Florida State University.

Without taking notes, only 10% of what you hear may last in memory [1]. With good note-taking, that number can go up to over 80%. Despite the benefits of note-taking, 1 out of every 3 students do not take notes.

Two-column note-taking is one of the most frequently recommended note-taking formats by universities and high schools. Also known as Cornell note-taking, it's a note-taking strategy that helps you take thorough notes in an efficient way, while allowing the notes to be used for review and self-quizzing.

Columns makes it easy to do the Cornell method of note-taking on your Mac.

Benefits

- Retain more of what you study
- Organize information in a useful format.
- Take amazing notes during a meeting, while listening to a lecture, watching a film, or reading a book.
- No prep-work required such as drawing lines and templates onto your sheets. Instant two column notes wherever, whenever.
- Especially useful for language learning - One of the well-researched use cases for Cornell note-taking is its effectiveness in improving language skills and its components. [2]

Features

- Instant Two Column Notes
No more forcing a word processor to do what it wasn’t designed to do. Columns is built from the bottom up for the Cornell Notetaking format and strategy, complete with title column, detail column, and summary footer.

- Write Clearly
Use custom text formatting to give your notes structure and make the important points stand out.

- Easy Organization
Put sheets into folders and sort them by name or date. Star the important sheets for quick access.

- Easy editing
Notes are a work in progress. Edit and rearrange your notes as you go.

- Find everything you ever wrote
Use the Cosmic Search to search through all of your sheets, notes, and summaries. Results are filtered and highlighted in real-time as you type. Click on a search result to be taken to its sheet.

- Print to printer or to PDF
Print out your sheets as full-spec Cornell notes. Fold along the vertical split to quiz yourself just like old school Cornell notes.

- Increase / Decrease size
Increase or decrease the size of the app elements.

- Focus mode
Just want to focus on the current sheet? You can hide the Folders and Sheets panes by clicking the hamburger menu button on the top-left corner of the app.

- Fullscreen Mode
Fullscreen compatible

- 100% Keyboard Navigation Compatible
Typist? Power-user? You can write and navigate through a sheet using just your keyboard. Custom formatting options have keyboard shortcuts.

NOTE-TAKING IS A SKILL

Research suggests note-taking is a valuable skill-set, but warns that not all note-taking is equal [3]. Therefore, four tips are given to the note-taker:

Verbatim note-taking is, perhaps, the least effective way to take notes.
Notes should be considered a work in progress.
Notes should be used as study guides for tests.
The more notes that are taken the better.

WHAT ARE TWO-COLUMN NOTES?

Two-column note-taking (also known as Cornell note-taking) is a note-taking strategy and format. This format is one of the most frequently suggested note-taking formats by universities and high schools.

The page is structured into two columns. Major headings are written on the left column and elaborated upon on the right column. The elaborations may take the form of bulleted points, summary statements, definitions, new information, or synthesis of prior and new knowledge.

---
Research cited:

[1] "How To Study In College" by the late Professor Walter Pauk of Cornell University.

[3] Alzu’bi, 2019; Zorn 2017; Baharev ,2016; Davoudi, Moattarian & Zareian, 2015; Rahmani & Sadeghi, 2011 &Hayati, 2009; Jacobs, 2008;

[2] Marzano, R. J., Pickering, K. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

What’s New

Version 1.0.27

Sheet sharing - Now you can share your sheets with anyone. Click the "share" button to get a shareable link, accessible from any web browser and even mobile devices.

Ratings and Reviews

4.3 out of 5
19 Ratings

19 Ratings

ShyftyyIV ,

needs more power

its great because its simple and free, but it needs way more tools, like an easy save to cloud thing and it needs to be easily backed up to the cloud, also a word check and autocorrect feature, just other feaures that Word has

ibmgh ,

Notes App without cloud sync nor export feature

I like the interface of the app and the simplicity but I don't feel this app is worth paying for yet if you have such requirements. Imagine having to wipe your computer only to realise that you will loose all your notes in the process or wanting to continue taking notes on another device.

I first tried to contact the developers by email before buying it and got no response. The in-app chat is also useless because it's just a robot to get your email but no response from developers. I know most probably the developer will come and post here that I should provide feedback by email but I don't think they really read the email.

I like the concept but I don't think this app is ready to become a paid app or at least not at this price though lacking basic features.

My review may change if I'm shown where these basic functions are. Also a published note can not be unpublished though you provide a button to do so. Most buttons are not working. I may get a refund because the app is not working as expected.

YounDocBates ,

The Premier Cornell Style Note-taking App

This thing is a powerful tool to write and review notes. It makes oraganizing subjects and topics easy and gives you the spaces you need to comment on and highlight key areas of you notes. If you're looking for a Cornell Note-Taking App. You just found it.

App Privacy

The developer, Lawrence Weru, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

  • Usage Data

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Supports

  • Family Sharing

    Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.