Amanote is a note-taking app integrated with Blackboard to help students study and learn more efficiently. It lets students take interactive notes directly on courses materials like slides and videos, with features like highlighting, mind maps, and even audio recordings.
Launch Amanote
Log in to Fairfield.blackboard.com
Navigate to your course and select any PDF, PowerPoint, or Video content.
If the content is supported by Amanote, it will pop-up automatically over the content.
View Here closes the Amanote pop-up and allows you to view the content in Blackboard.
Open in Amanote will launch Amanote in a new window where you can add your notes. This guide requires you to select Open in Amanote to use the features.
Amanote will launch in a new window. If this is your first time using Amanote, you will need to Allow Authentication with the LMS.
Navigating Amanote
In the central part of the Amanote interface, you'll find the area dedicated to course material and notes, as well as the various toolbars.
Changing Pages for Multi-Page Documents
Use the central bar at the bottom of the screen to browse through the document. You can use the arrows to move forwards and backwards in the document, or enter a specific page number by clicking in the center to access it directly. This is very useful for documents with many pages.
Customizing Your Workspace
Single-Page to Thumbnail View
You can also open the "Thumbnails" view by clicking on the small magnifying glass icon or via Menu > View > Thumbnails. This view gives you an overview of the document with a thumbnail for each page, and allows you to search by keyword both in the notes and in the course material.
Resize the Workspace
Zoom
If you wish to enlarge either the course material area or the notes area, you can click on the grip between the two areas and move left or right as you wish.
You can also zoom in on the course support via Menu > View > Zoom.
Maximize Course Materials or Notes
It is also possible to maximize the course material so that only this is visible in the workspace via Menu > View > Maximize PDF.
Search by Keywords
By clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, you'll be able to search for items by keywords present in your notes, or in the course material.
Taking Notes
Text, Image, and LaTex notes
After launching your document in Amanote, a text editor will appear to the right of your content. You can type, format text, and insert images, tables, or formulas.
Drawing and hand-written notes
Select the pencil icon in the text editor to open the drawing tool. You can draw diagrams or hand-write notes that will be embedded as an image to your existing text notes.
Adjust the color and line thickness
Validate the drawing by clicking the V icon (checkmark).
Edit the drawing anytime after inserting it by simply clicking on it to launch the drawing tool.
Annotated Notes
Highlighter: highlight freely on the document. This is particularly useful for highlighting non-text areas such as diagrams. To highlight text, select the text and then choose the highlighter.
Pencil: use the pencil to write or draw diagrams on the document.
Post-it Note: the post-it note enables links to be created between the course material and the note-taking area. Place the numbered post-it note anywhere on the course material. A note with the reference number will appear in the text editor where you can write notes associated with that annotation. This is particular useful for diagrams.
Text Box: Add a text box to type notes directly on the course content.
Saving Your Notes
Once you've finished taking notes, you can save your work by clicking on the Save button in the main menu at the top of the application.
You should see a small confirmation alert in green at the bottom of the screen confirming that the notes have been saved in our Cloud.
