Let’s focus first on the principle of multiple means of representation and consider some practical tools for organising material for your classes.
There are usually several ways to present and curate content, especially if your school provides access to learning management systems such as Daymap, SEQTA, or Seesaw. While these systems allow you to organise and share content with students, they often involve using specific editors and working outside of direct classroom time.
As with exercise routines, the best method for organising content is the one you can maintain consistently; if the system is too cumbersome, it tends to deter regular use.
For this reason, I find that using more flexible tools like digital notebooks leads to better consistency in content delivery. One effective option available to anyone is Joplin, a free, open-source application that functions much like a traditional notebook. With Joplin, you can create sections and expand them to include any materials you need—be it text, images, video, drawings, or links. After preparing your notebook, you can share it with students by saving the file to a school network drive, making updates seamlessly accessible. Although there is a cloud option, the core advantage of Joplin is its simplicity and independence from commercial platforms.
Alternatively, many teachers and students have access to Microsoft OneNote, particularly when schools use Teams. I personally use OneNote, mainly because it aligns with what other staff are using and avoids requiring students to learn a new platform. In Teams, the ‘Class Notebook’ feature makes collaborative organisation easy. I structure my digital notes in units, then create dedicated pages for each segment of learning. Each page typically corresponds to about a twenty-minute lesson episode, and I intentionally number them, which helps students quickly find what they need—even if they forget the topic, they often remember the number.
In my workflow, I prepare some notes before class, linking key ideas and prior knowledge to set the stage. For skill development or worked examples, I use a wireless pen tablet, which connects to my laptop and projects to the classroom screen. This setup allows me to move freely around the room while writing, with my handwritten notes immediately saved into the digital notebook. Students can then revisit these notes at any time, giving them direct access to organised lesson content.
While interactive whiteboards also allow on-screen annotation capture, their use often requires extra steps that can disrupt the teaching flow or discourage regular use. With a digital notebook, by contrast, the process is streamlined—everything is organised and retained as you go, minimising cognitive load for students and making it easy for them to review and stay up to date with classwork.
Ultimately, having a reliably structured and accessible digital notebook—whether in Joplin, OneNote, or a similar tool—makes an enormous difference in how students access and engage with learning materials. By reducing barriers and keeping the content well-organised, we help foster more independent learning and smoother day-to-day experiences for both teachers and students.
Jak Baddams