Taken from a painting of Kapiti Island at Sunset.
by Sonia Savage.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Evernote - Teacher Helper.

Evernote is a free web tool that I recently came across through reading Richard Lambert’s blog . Later I listened to a prerecorded webinar given on Wednesday eT@lking by Graham Clark. 


Evernote is for
            PC
            Ipad or Ipod Touch
            Iphone or Android.

If you have it on two or more such devices it will sync automatically and notes you put in using your PC will be found on for instance your Ipad when you next open it up.
Evernote allows you to keep notes that include text, photos, and audio. I cannot see any way of easily creating audio on your PC, however on the other devices it is in the toolbar and is very easy to add a voice to the note.

 If you pay $5 a month you can include all kinds of documents and video.  At present I am only using the free tool, however as I begin to collect information I may move to the paid version.  The free version allows you 60mb a month.

While I will use it to collect, sort and tag a variety of information I want to use it to collect data about students in one place so that it will help me to track what they are learning through the year.  For example the class has just finished a Science Fair project.  I have photographed these and put them in students’ notebooks.


Evernote can be downloaded from their website.  Apps are downloaded from the app stores.


There is a web clipping tool which should also be downloaded.  It sits on your tool bar and gives you the option of clipping the url, the whole article or the page.



If you set your preferences under Tools you will also be able to choose from a drop down list which notebook you want to put the note in.



A clipping tool is also added to your email and if you want to save a special email you can put it into you notebook.  For example I just did it to remind me of a password I want handy for a website.

If you are on your ipad you can also clip to your notebook using the email address assigned to you by Evernote when you join.  The following video shows you how to do this. I haven't yet mastered this aspect!  Clipping from your PC is far easier.




If you are starting a new notebook this can be done from the tool bar at the top. Once the new notebook is made you are ready to start adding notes to it.


The new note can then be clicked on, a title given to it and it can be tagged. Some teachers choose to tag by student name within a notebook.  I prefer to set up a notebook for each student.  I then tag as well, so that I could for example find all science information if I wanted.

If students had their own devices they could have Evernote on say their Ipod Touch and they could track their own work e-portfolio style. 

I like this free tool and I can see that it is going to be very useful.  I am looking forward to using it next term when I return to my classroom.




If you don't already use it I suggest you give it a go.  There are many uses for it outside of education.  Try it.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Kathryn,

    Thanks for the clear explanation of Evernote. I appreciate how you kept it simple, yet detailed, which made it very easy to follow. I've seen Evernote before, but I suppose I dismissed it because there are so many other options. However, you caught my attention with it being able to sync from PC to iPhone or iPad. Those are the three devices I have as I travel the western US with my family.

    Thanks for your post!

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tracy
    I don't have the iPhone. (Yet!) I am sort of holding off but may give in and not wait ti next version. I have ipad2 though and so can sync there, however smart phone will be very useful in class to take samples of work, and can then also record quick conferences etc
    kathryn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, my phone has been an amazing resource to use especially since I am in multiple classrooms a day. I don't have one of the new phones, and my district doesn't pay for it. I'm borrowing the iPad from the Tech Dept. I appreciate having an iPad (1st gen) to play around with this summer so I can help the teachers in my district who will have them in their classrooms (K-2nd grades) next year. So far though, I've used it very similar to the way I use my iPhone. So, I don't think I've quite wrapped my head around it yet. I am amazed by the battery power and how long it lasts! When I return home, I will investigate what apps I should download so blogging is easier on it. I will also look into Evernote for the iPad. I will have to pick your brain about other iPad apps you'd suggest. Thanks again for your suggestion & sharing through your post.

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tracy and Kathryn, I love Evernote. I never thought of it as a portfolio until I read the comments in Tracy's post, especially @TimWatters ( http://wwwatanabe.blogspot.com/2011/07/student-portfolios-diigo-and-blogs.html#comments )

    What is especially great about Evernote is that it searches in the entire text, not just the tags. And, if you take a picture of text, it will translate that too in your search.

    I wonder if there is an education edition? Thanks for your conversation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just checked out Evernote's cost; It is way too expensive for our school district.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sheri
    That's interesting. I guess that they charge when you use it in a bulk way?
    Kathryn

    ReplyDelete

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