Anyone who has followed my Homescreen Heroes for a while knows I’ve been out of the school and college system for over 20 years. That means I’ve been working for about the same number of years as I was in education.
As I’ve been reflecting on that milestone, it got me thinking how different my education would be if I went back to college now, rather than at the turn of the century. Okay, that really does make me sound old.
One of the most significant differences would be in the area of note-taking. Despite doing a computer science degree, I used pen and paper to record my classes. No recording equipment. No transcription. And certainly no AI. But nowadays, students have access to a plethora of apps, including Jameworks, Glean, and my new personal favorite, Genio Notes.
Homescreen heroes
This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
Genio Notes is not like most other note-taking apps. Instead, it specifically helps students engage in class and study effectively. It’s an app that is not focused on general note-taking but instead delivers a tailored experience to students. Now, rather than paying exorbitant college fees to go back into the education system, I set up a couple of rudimentary lectures, which I then used to interact with as a student. Here’s how I got on.
I began by capturing everything
At the heart of Genio is the ability to record a class (or event in Genio’s nomenclature) and take notes as you listen. The app will work on any device and can be utilized for classes accessed in person or even online. It’s the complete package that takes into consideration the various types of learning experiences available to people, especially post-COVID.
As you listen to your teacher and record the audio through the app, it’s possible to attach notes and labels. So, if you hear a must-remember sentence or a statement that you want to think about later, just add a note. Everything is helpfully time-stamped so you can listen back to the audio that prompted the note creation.
Now that most classes are supplemented by slides, it’s great that Genio lets you import them directly into a specific event. If a teacher sends them ahead of time, then you can get them lined up, or if they’re shared mid-lesson, then that’s no problem at all. No longer will you be searching for slides that have gotten lost in the middle of a load of unread emails.
Then I was ready to boost my learning
One of my favorite features of the app is its ability to transcribe lecture audio. This made it possible to study even when I was in a public place but didn’t have access to earbuds. Now, I know transcription software has become incredibly good, but I was blown away by how good Genio is at this. Not only was the transcription spot on, word for word, but it also accurately detected where there should be paragraph breaks. That made it much easier to read rather than having to work through an unbroken block of text.
It’s fair to say that keeping up with classes, assignments, and course material is pretty demanding. Thankfully, all notes can be classified into Collections. You can create Collections for different subjects or break them down by module. I think the only point of improvement for this would be the ability to create nested Collections. That way, you could organize notes much more helpfully.
If you’d like to supercharge your Genio learning experience, you can hop out of the app and onto the desktop interface. By doing this, you’ll gain access to AI-powered tools like Outline and Quiz Me. Outline is perfect for getting a quick overview of a lesson. I can imagine students using that as a reminder of what they learned in a previous class before jumping into a new one.
Quiz Me takes all the information contained in your transcript and generates a quiz. Use this during times of revision or to consolidate learning throughout a semester. Other AI features include keyword searches for better information access.
Going all in with Genio Notes
Genio Notes is available for $129/£144 per year. This provides complete access to all Genio features. If you’re looking to maximize your learning experience and take advantage of the app’s advanced features, then you’ll need to subscribe.
If you’re not sure yet, you can download Genio Notes on iOS or Android and sign up for a free 30-day trial. You’ll get unlimited access and be able to easily determine whether this is the right companion app for your studies.
