Anyone who knows me knows that this sign on my desk is pretty indicative of the way I go about things:

I’m a risk-taking, jump-right-in, what-could-possibly-go-wrong, all-in kind of girl.  So when I heard OneNote desktop version is being sunsetted, I just sort of moseyed on over to the Windows 10 app and moved in.  I’ve been living there almost full-time because if that’s going to be my new OneNote, I want to really start to form a friendship with it.  I know, I know….it doesn’t have ALL the cool stuff from OneNote 2016 desktop yet, but it will.  So for now, I still just pop in for visits with 2016 when I need a certain tool, but for the most part, I’ve migrated!

So if you haven’t even looked at the app yet and are brand new to all of this, take a look at the image above.  #1 shows you where to click to open your apps.  #2 shows you where you can find OneNote (it’s alphabetically listed).  I will use it A LOT, so I right-clicked on the words in #2 and clicked “Pin To Start”, which put #3 out there where it’s nice & easy for me to find!

FOUR FAVES

Whenever I make new friends, I like to notice all the positives about them.  That’s exactly what I’ve been doing with the OneNote app while I’m waiting for all the bells and whistles from 2016 to be added over the next few months.

As Julie Andrews would sing, “These are a few of my favorite things….”

  • The pens!  I just love how the pens are laid out on the Draw tab.  I’m no artist, but digital inking is just so fun!  Of course, I gravitated right to the rainbow pen,the outer space pen, and the fancy-schmancy golden pen!  The cool trick is to click that little plus at the top – it lets you choose and add your own favorite pencils, pens, and highlighters to to that row that’s displayed, so you always have your most beloved inking tools right at your fingertips!

  •   The emoji keyboard.  This actually works in all the Microsoft spaces (Word, Outlook, etc.) in Windows 10, but I’ve been especially enjoying it in OneNote, where I’m more apt to use emojis.  My favorite trick is to use emojis in Section names, Page names, and even Notebook names!  As the photo above shows, just hold down the Windows button and the period and that cute emoji window pops up for you!  I love the clean graphic style of these Microsoft emoji’s, too!

  • Link right out to the Microsoft Educator Community.  I spend a lot of time in the M.E.C., and I try to teach others to do the same.  It’s my community center where I go to learn, grow, find resources, and even make connections.  I love having the icon right there in the Class Notebook tab so that if I have a question or want to learn something new, it’s just a click away!

  • Watching Growth.  The little image above is a screenshot of exactly what is on the Insert Tab as of today, right now, on April 30, 2018.  Over the next few months, the good folks at Microsoft have listened to the community and promised to add in (almost) all of the excellent tools we all love in 2016 desktop version.  This is fun for me.  I love that Audio and Forms are already there, and I will thoroughly enjoy watching more and more tools festoon the Insert Ribbon in the coming weeks.

So if you weren’t sure how to make the move or even wondered why it might be fun to go all-in with the Windows 10 OneNote app, I hope I’ve given you some inspiration!  Give it a shot…you have everything to gain.  Leap, and OneNote will appear!  😉

If you ever want to talk #OneNote, anything #MicrosoftEDU, or anything #EdTech at all, you can find me on Twitter at @kerszi, on Facebook at Integration Innovation, and right here on the blog!