Raise your hand if you’ve never ever received an unsolicited email. A spam email. An unwanted creation that populates your inbox with titles aimed to grab your attention. Yup, I knew it! No hands were raised.

Studies have shown that in instructor-based courses, note-taking promotes learning. Some authors even suggest that this skill is a prerequisite for effective acquisition of knowledge (Bauer & Koedinger, 2006; Kauffman, Zhao, & Yang, 2011). The same benefits have been found in online environments, although there are certain advantages and disadvantages specific to virtual spaces.