Whenever I attend any sort of conference where there are sessions happening simultaneously, whether an edcamp or a tradition conference, I always experience FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out! Even if I am fully engaged and learning things that blow my mind, somewhere, in the back of my mind, I’m wondering what others are learning in the sessions I am missing. 

Several years ago, I created a shared note-taking template for just this reason. It is a Google Doc with numerous spaces set up for individuals to write the title of the session they are attending as well as the name of the person taking the notes. The magic comes with Google Doc’s SHARE feature. Clicking the blue SHARE button to share this document with EDITING access with as many colleagues as I can gives me access to all those sessions that I couldn’t attend! No more FOMO!

I’ve shared this template with my friends and colleagues on numerous occasions so that we can ALL benefit from having access to each others’ notes from professional development events. It is truly amazing to see everyone typing into the document at the same time! BUT DON’T WORRY – the template keeps everyone’s sessions and ideas separate and organized while still allowing everyone to benefit from each other’s learning.

At the ISTE conference last year in San Antonio, we not only shared this one note-taking template with everyone attending from our campus, but also with TWO other campuses! The more people writing down the best things learned from sessions, the better! We ALL benefitted from sharing with each other on ONE shared Google Doc.

Here’s how to get started benefitting from shared note-taking:

• Grab your copy of the Shared Note-Taking Template here.
• Then, at the next training, professional development, edcamp, or conference you attend, click the blue SHARE button in the top right corner
• Enter all the email addresses of those you want to share with in the popup and make sure the pencil is showing for editing access… OR
• Click on “Get Shareable Link” in the top right corner of the popup
• Click the drop-down that says “Anyone with the link can…” and make sure to change it to “Anyone with the link can edit”
• Click the copy link button
• Paste this link into an email to all your colleagues attending the professional development event.

Now go learn and SHARE and LEARN MORE from what your colleagues SHARE!