The classical way of taking notes at lectures is to fill the A4 with linear, continuous text, preferably in black and white. It is awful, so you should forget all about it at once. To illustrate the possibilities of data visualization I will direct you to a Periodic Table of Visualization Methods that effectively summarizes the methods used at the time being.
And when you take notes, you should consider using one of the programmes reviewed at Mind-mapping.org. It is a heaven for anyone interested in mindmapping, concept mapping and other types of information organisation, and you will be directed to pages where you can download software of all types (shareware, open-source…) suitable for all the different operating systems. (If someone wonders why I don’t mention Tony Buzan in the same sentence as mindmapping, then I will inform that the train left the station a long time ago and there are people all over the world giving their input to the method.)
Colour, different font (size), shape, and pictures are an important of the learning process and using mindmapping is efficient, gives you a fast clue to what parts of the subject you should emphasize more, and in general takes the learning experience to a whole new level.
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