Taking notes with pen and paper may soon be a thing of the past.

Microsoft Office OneNote offers the newest way to take notes on your computer. The program acts much like a standard notebook -- users can type anywhere on the page, so they have the same freedom of writing by hand while still on the computer.

Since mid-September, Microsoft has been reaching out to college campuses to introduce its new software.

Gabby Plante, (senior-public relations) one of two on-campus representatives for Microsoft Office OneNote, said while OneNote is still growing, usage increases as more students get introduced to the features of the program.

"Once students initially download OneNote, that's when they get hooked," Plante said. "The features of the new program are much more targeted toward the college student lifestyle."

Some of these student-oriented features include a group sharing session, a study guide tool, and a voice-recording tool for in-class lectures.

The group sharing session allows students working on OneNote to view and add to a document at the same time, even if they are not at the same computer.

"It's a great tool for group meetings, because you can all get on different computers at the same time and access the same document," Plante said. "People can be sitting separately anywhere on campus, and still do group work together."

The study guide feature allows students to bookmark specific notes and then when it comes time to make a study guide, OneNote will automatically compile everything that was tagged.

With the voice-recording feature, students can record a teacher's lectures when it is too fast for note taking. A link will then allow students to replay the recorded clip.

Student representatives for Microsoft are now in 50 universities throughout the country. Microsoft OneNote is available for a 180-day free trial on all 50 campuses, and Penn State currently has the most downloads of all schools involved.

After the 180-day free trial ends, OneNote software will be available for purchase at a discounted student rate of $50.

Brandon Evans, Director of National Account Services for Mr. Youth, the firm that is running the Microsoft account, said he has seen increased student interest as word spread about the program.

"We want students to learn and educate themselves on the program now because it will be one of the main tools they will use in the business world in the future," Evans said. "It is a much more efficient way of taking notes and compiling information."

Evans also said Microsoft's student polls indicate that more than 50 percent of student users say it helps them get better grades, and 90 percent say they would recommend the program to other students.

"I heard about the program through one of my global marketing classes," Julie Rose (senior-marketing) said. "I've been using it for organizing my notes and studying for exams."

Matt Valkovic (senior-international politics and history) said since he started using OneNote, he has been pleased with the results.

"I could have used Word instead, but this is a good alternative," he said. "It is much more geared toward note-taking."

OneNote is currently offered in all campus computer labs, and is available for download at www.onenotecampus.com.