No real secrets, just something that you start to learn for yourself, especially once you hit college. Highschool and college are just different animals. I don't remember taking a whole lot of notes in high school, or studying a whole lot for that matter..... just seemed like whatever you needed to learn or do was clearly laid out. In college that can be very different and if you haven't already learned how you "study" in high school (like me) then in college you'll start developing those skills and by trial and error figure out what works for you.
In undergrad if I took notes it was pen/paper. I had a laptop but didn't use it for notes. I enjoyed the freedom of paper, especially in the sciences where you may have to draw a pathway, chart, molecule, etc....
In med school I rarely take notes. There are so many resources (powerpoint lectures, review books, note services, that it can actually be overwhelming how many sources you have and it then becomes a skill to narrow it down to what sources work for you. At the most I'll highlight or just some notes down in the book.
It's very abstract so don't stress too much about the "mechanics" of how to study or take notes, or multitask. Yea, people will offer hints and what worked for them, but for the most part I'd say it's just something that you learn step by step along the way.
If the pen things looks interesting to you then give it a try. That's part of the process, trial and error. Actually, I think that's necessary as it's the only way you'll see if it helps you. For a while I was using Microsoft OneNote (a very neat program, can also record audio) but just never got to a point where it helped my studying, rather I was trying to change my habits and skills to fit the limits of the program.
