Make these on your course material to help you concentrate and encourage you to read crtically by noting down questions as you go. Use a pencil so you can change your mind if you want to.

These anable you to cross reference and make connections between different parts of the course. Add to them throughout your course and use them for revision.

They help you to get ideas down on paper when you can't think where to start. They also help you to see connections between things. Re-work them using colour and pictures and they'll provide you with an overview of key points. Being creative is a powerful aid to memory when you're revising for an exam.

They're useful for detailed notes and for expressing things in your own words. Make sure you use headings, underlining and colour to organise them so that you can find what you want.

These help when revising as you can dictate your notes and listen to them while you're doing other things like household chores or travelling. Putting things in your own words is a good way to process your course material and learn. Some people find it easier than writing. Use them to concentrate on new terms and jargon or to listen to yourself speaking another language.

Use them to categorise ideas, types and theories so that you can see similarities and differences. Use them to plan essays which ask you to compare and contrast.

They're good for breaking down and showing the stages of a process without the detail. Use them to help you work out and remember complex procedures.

Go to the BBC's Taking notes written by the OU's Andy Northedge.

Registered students can also access our Reading and note-taking toolkit which is also available in hard copy from Regional Centres.