LessonNote
An iPad App for Educators
LessonNote Overview
LessonNote, developed in 2012 in collaboration with the Lesson Study Alliance and IMPULS, is a classroom observation tool designed to help educators better understand how students learn. It focuses on capturing teacher–student interactions to make the learning process visible as it unfolds.
Available as an iPad and iPhone app, LessonNote allows educators to document student activity during lessons using built-in timestamps. It also includes tools to analyze lesson structure and classroom organization, supporting deeper reflection on instructional practices and student engagement.
A key feature of LessonNote is its intuitive, customizable seating chart. By tapping on a student—or any item on the chart—users can open a notepad to record observations, add comments, and insert photos of student work in progress. This makes it easy to capture rich, real-time evidence of learning.
What’s New in LessonNote 6
Based on feedback from educators over time, LessonNote 6 introduces a faster, more stable experience with a clean, modern interface. It also offers improved onboarding support for new users. Pro subscribers can take advantage of additional features, including:
• Support for multiple seating charts per lesson.
• LessonNote now works on iPhones, with keyboard support.
• If you need to see your data on a bigger screen, choose from two export options:
(1) Export the lesson as a web archive and view it in any browser;
(2) Export the lesson as a LessonNote archive and view it in LessonNote on a Mac.
• Button in the home screen toolbar to go to the new LessonNote forum or to send us an email.
• Pro subscribers can now add and edit tags directly from the notepad.
• Modality timer: See when a note was created relative to the start of the current instructional modality. Easily know, for example, how long students were working independently before a certain student completed the task.
Version 6.1 is now available on the App Store, with support for Japanese, French, Thai, and Cambodian. We welcome feedback on translations and suggestions for additional languages.
Get Started
Download LessonNote today to support more effective observation, reflection, and improvement in teaching and learning.
Use is free for up to five lessons per year, and lessons with fewer than 15 notes do not count toward this limit.