Hi all,
I’ve been speaking to my friends about RemNote and got tired of having the repeatedly type out why they should try it. As a result, I wrote a long piece about why students should consider giving it a go.
I’m putting this the Q/A section because I would love some feedback. I particularly want to know if I’ve missed any key points or features that I should mention to a prospective RemNote user.
Please note that my friends know very little about Personal Knowledge Management or SRS, so I’ve tried to keep the jargon to a minimum.
As students, we do the same things repeatedly.
We take notes, we memorize these notes, and we use these notes to write.
Historically, a student needed a plethora of digital and non-digital tools to get through this process of notetaking, memorizing and writing.
When I was an undergraduate, I wrote my notes on paper and in OneNote. I used Anki and written techniques to memorize them. Finally, I used a combination of OneNote, Google Docs and Microsoft Word to write.
My system was cumbersome. Notes were rarely reused. The number of different apps I tried and then ditched was staggering.
With RemNote, I can take notes, memorize these notes, and use those notes to write, all in one application.
RemNote is the ultimate tool to help you think and learn, and every student should, at a minimum, give it a go.
What is RemNote?
RemNote is the first application that that combines non-linear note-taking and a flashcards learning system. It is the only tool that can help students excel in their exams and in their coursework assignments.
RemNote leads to better Notetaking:
- RemNote is a non-linear note-taking tool. Unlike traditional note-taking apps, you are able to connect thoughts in a way that mimics how your brain actually works.
- This non-linear appraoch revolutionizes the way you engage with content and makes it easier to come up with interesting or original ideas.
- This is especially important for subjects that don’t have clear boundaries between your classes (eg. Humanities students) or the yearly content builds upon each other
- Furthermore, RemNote has solid PDF integration that makes it easy to read and take notes on academic papers, which are almost always in PDF format.
RemNote leads to better Memorization:
- If students wish to do well, they need to memorize information and use it in their exams.
- RemNote makes it incredibly easy to turn your notes into flashcards which you can test yourself on.
- This method of active recall has been shown to be the best way of learning
- Furthermore, RemNote uses spaced repetition to only show you the flashcards that you struggle to remember, saving you time by preventing you from viewing cards you already know.
- It’s incredibly easy process to use flashcard and edit them, you can edit them later if testing on mobile.
- Flashcards are also contextualized based on the information above them, making it easier to test yourself.
RemNote leads to better Writing:
- For many students, coursework plays a large role in determining their final grade. When it comes to essays and dissertations, spaced repetition and active recall are of little use. But, RemNote is still useful because it’s one of the best apps for writing.
- Good writing ultimately relies on good thinking. The way that RemNote is set up allows one to think in a way that mirrors the brain and increase creativity.
- With RemNote you can Brainstorm in Graph view. The ability to see secondary nodes is also incredibly useful as it allows you to take a holistic approach to your writing.
- The Sidebar makes it easy to write within the same application, removing the need for multiple apps or multitasking, leading to greater focus.
Better Notetaking + Better Memorization + Better Writing = Better Student
Other Considerations:
- Price - Unlike other apps such as Roam Research, RemNote with always have a free version. This emphasises the team’s commitment to providing a resource that can change education globally. They also offer scholarships for students or those earning under $20,000 that puts the price of the pro version at a mere $3 a month. That’s 1/3 of the cost of Spotify.
- Access - Students need an app that can be accessed online without downloading anything if they wish to work on school computer. This is why the online version of RemNote is probably better than Obsidian (for some students).
- Sustainability - The RemNote team is committed to providing a quality product for many years to come. If they cannot sustainably maintain the business, RemNote will be turned into an open-source project and will still be available to students. Furthermore,
The Case for Digital Minimalism:
- When it comes to productivity apps, digital maximalism has become the mainstream way of thinking.
- People switch apps constantly hoping that this will somehow fix their broken systems and habits.
- It’s better to commit to a single app that meets your criteria than to continue switching and searching for the perfect one.
- RemNote has all the potential to be the only app students need to use when it comes to note-taking, memorizing and writing.
Conclusion :
- RemNote is a tool that can be used for note-taking, memorization and writing. The ability to break complex concepts down with bullet-point outlining and then link between them using backlinks and references makes it a powerful notetaking tool. The inbuilt spaced-repetition system makes it easy to learn from the notes you’ve taken. Features such as the graph view and the sidebar make thinking and writing in RemNote better than a normal word processor.
- While other apps or combination of apps may be better for certain use-cases, RemNote offers a one-stop solution for students that is unparalleled by any other app.
- The pricing and sustainability of the app mean that it will be a good option for students for years to come.
