Week #6: Collaborative Notes & Documents - Working in the Cloud!

Weekly Report & Reflection Blog Post #6: 

Small Elephants Make a Big Impression

THE GLASS IS HALF FULL

Well, I have reached the mid-way point (whew) in my course and in retrospect it seems like months ago that I read the course outline with butterflies in my stomach. I can recall envisioning a course load full of readings and assignments that would deal with research and more research and then more research, about technology. What I did not expect was to be involved with exploring and utilizing digital tools that would, ironically, do the research for me. I wish I had adventured into a technology course much earlier in my degree journey since it would have probably (most likely – definitely) saved time.

Presenter Media. (2013). 

Custom Smart Phone [Online Image Customized]
 © Link.

Thanks to Nokia’s phone apps I am now able to enhance my tech-nerdiness by being able to track my daily “Due” list (better known as my homework). I am checking Feedly for relevant readings to share with you, tweeting to build a PLN, adding bookmarks to DIIGO, and now curating information through Evernote (my ‘fav’).

 

To date, this course has fulfilled my personal and professional objectives – it has created opportunities wherein I can critically reflect on my PLE and explore digital tools that will enhance my teaching methodologies as well as my personal life style. I have learnt a vast of information in such a short period of time that, at times, seems overwhelming to grasp. However, this is what technology can do – it overloads‘your’ system – the trick is to maintain the knowledge that you need and get rid of the ‘junk’ that you find useless. In reality, this takes time and patience as you explore what tools would most benefit you and your PLE. 

In my case, I am being optimistic since I am willing to give a fair chance to all the new ‘tech’ tools. I have discovered that some tools are not always love at first use and that it takes persistence in understanding, and enjoying, their full intended potential. Ironically, it is the frustration in exploring the solutions to the tech-glitches that I enjoy the most. Perhaps, it gives me an awkward sense of accomplishment in feeling a bit of a tech-nerdess in a world that I know so little about.

Presenter Media. (2013). 

String Tied Around Finger Reminder [Online Image].

 ©  Link.

REMEMBER THY DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

This may be a good place to briefly recap and remind others, including myself, what Mike Ribble wants us to remember: “Digital citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use” (Ribble, 2013). Ribble’s statement does not mean that you should not explore technology tools but rather, that you should explore, while respecting the limits, and then evaluate them. The emphasis here is on evaluating the tools to ensure that they are enhancing, and not deteriorating, your digital footprint (yes, those footprints will follow you everywhere).

ELEPHANTS ARE ‘LIGHTLY’ STOMPING ON MY DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Stark, C. (2013, July 3).

“Elephant with a Trail of Post-It Note Footprints” [Online Image]. Link

May not be the most catchy subheading but this is what I kept visioning as I added Evernote to my repertoire of new digital tools. Evernote’s elephant logo is still a mystery to me; it is not like Twitter’s logo where I think of ‘tweeting’. As for the elephant – I am still stumped even with claims that it because an elephant never forgets (are you kidding me). Nonetheless, I have fallen in love with Evernote (and the elephant too) particularly, because of its main purpose – to make my life easier.

In my week two blog I had written that the inclusion of any tools in my PLE needed to be, or should be, like FRED: Free, Redundant, Easy to use and, Designed to make me smile. Well, I am smiling with Evernote!  It is easy to say, even in the early stages of its use, that this one is a keeper in my PLE. Its key advantages have already been proven to be an asset in my current group research project since it has the capabilities to be a collaborative and powerful research, tool.  It was easy to set up an account and the free version does enough to allow the beginner to move in the right direction without becoming lost in the simple features of the program.

I did not hesitate to download the software program to my PC since it allows using the tool in an online or offline mode. In addition, I used Mozilla’s Adds-On site for Evernote’s web clipper – but don’t worry if you have a different browser since the clipper works for almost all browsers.  Before long, I was using the elephant to clip URLs, articles and pictures into my Evernote account – yes, it was that easy to collect information from the web! To ensure that I tagged correctly I read about how to use tags in Evernote and voila – my first notebook was created under 10 minutes.

Terry, L. (2013). “Evernote Logo” [Online Image]. Link

Overall, it is Evernote’s simplicity that won me over! 

There are other options that Evernote offers such as Evernote Peek, (great for students) but I may have to wait on that one since it's only compatible with iPads (I didn’t know that elephants like apples <sign>). For now, I will try the scanning option that will enable me to upload my scribble-scratch notes or important hand-written documents into my account.

USING EVERNOTE AS A COLLABORATIVE TOOL

It was Keith Everett’s video on How to Get Insanely Organised with Evernote that helped me actually get started with  Evernote but I have to give credit to my facilitator, Caitlin Munn, for actually leading me through the easy steps in how to share my Evernote with my research partners.

Siviero, M. (CC) 2013.

The capability of sharing Evernote, privately or publicly, with whoever you choose makes this tool a great collaborative tool in my PLE.  I have been able to share my named notebook: Digital Health and Wellness, with my group research members (check out Kawai’s and Jannett’s blogs) in a way that is useful for our digital learning journey as well as for gathering information that will be used for our future presentation. 

EVERNOTE IS NOT A WORD PROCESSOR

Shyam. (2013). 

“Microsoft Word 2013 Logo” [Online Image]. Link

I can not believe that I went this long without ever knowing that there were digital programs, such as Evernote, that supported working on, and saving, note documents both on and offline.  With that being said, I can still utter, “I will never stop using Microsoft Word!” – at least not anytime in the near future. I virtually use Word to create everything that I have written from research papers to personal itineraries (so Microsoft Office can relax). Most students know Word as an old-school program that works exceptional well as a word processor; however, its ball and chain to your PC does not make it as versatile when compared to cloud-based programs that can be accessible from any mobile device.

I will give two thumbs up for Evernote’s wonders as a note taking tool (plus the organization and web-based storage advantage); however, it has its limitations in its formatting features when compared to a word processor such as Word. My own experience had me a little frazzled this week as I tried to create subheadings in Evernote– this was not an easy task unless I first copied and pasted from my Word document. With persistence - and some of Adam Green’s tech-solutions for Evernote - I was able to work out some of the snags.

I will have to remain faithful to Word as my number one choice for writing papers and submitting final documents – a process that I would normally do for an assignment. I do want to mention that overall, I support Evernote as a note taker (not word processor), organizer, and most importantly as a collaborative and research tool that gives me the freedom to store any chosen files. 

ORGANIZING WITH IFTTT

I tired Zapier  – disliked it and gave up on it. There is no particular reason other than that I found IFTTT (which stands for if this, then that) more too my liking and easy to set up. This recipe-type of tool allowed me to connect my Twitter and DIIGO account activities right to my Evernote.  I do like the feature that this adds but view it more as a backup solution.  It would be a difficult to choose (if I had too) DIIGO over Evernote, or Twitter, at this point since I like the highlighting option that DIIGO gives over Evernote and the whole socializing event that takes place in Twitter-land. The probability of keeping IFFTT in my PLE will not likely happen.  

Sinkov, A. (2009). “Twitter and Evernote” [Online Image]. Link

 “… IFTTT (If This Then That) support means you can automatically send content from other services [e.g., Gmail, DIIGO, Twitter or Pocket] to your Evernote account. If nothing else, you could use Evernote to archiveyour digital life” 
(Pinola,2012).

 

EVERNOTE FOR EDUCATORS 

Skrabut, S. (2013, April 16).

“Screenshot of Evernote for Students” [Online Slide Image #1]. Link

“I've come to the point where nearly all my studies are done with Evernote….If you're a student and you are not using something like Evernote, you are probably missing out on being more productive and doing better work”

(Green,2012).

According to Jane Hart’s research, Evernote was ranked as the 6th learning tool (out of the top 100) in 2013 versus its 12^th place in 2012. It was also voted as a tool that is more likely to be used as a personal tool than as an educator’s tool.  However, others such as Michael Cruz, Buffy Hamilton and MacroGeek1 all have one common theme in their discussion - Evernote can be used, and is practical, as a teaching and learning tool!  It becomes an essential asset to students by allowing them to organize and file class notes, handouts, assignments, pictures, audible recordings of lectures, and almost anything else, in a paperless notebook that can be viewed from almost any mobile device (talk about making the backpack lighter). With its added web clipping tool feature it also gives the advantage of searching and saving the dreaded research paper as a more dreamful event. In this case your mouse is the elephant's best friend - all you have to do is drag and drop the entire web page into the suggested space in your Evernote page. I suggest that you view Stan Skrabut’s slide presentation on How Students Can use Evernote for Lifelong Learning since it easily depicts how Evernote can be useful for the student and educator alike.

Ciaccia, C. (2013, October 15). 

“Burberry – Apple Combined Design” [Online Image]. Link

FEEDLY WAS ON FASHION ALERT THIS WEEK

Wright, M. (2013, October 22). Is this what the iWatch could look like? [Online Image]. Link

In general, I found this week uneventful with my news reader and decided to delete some of the dreary feeds with ones that are more appealing to me such as fashion.  I aimed my Feedly to The New York Times Fashion & Style section and never gave a second thought to how technology and fashion intertwine until I read a related article written by Chen and Scott (2013). If you love fashion and technology than get ready for Apple’s innovation with a ‘wrist’ of Burberry fashion to it. 

It has been confirmed that the Apple cooperation has hired Burberry’s CEO, Angela Ahrendts, as their Retail Chief in hopes to have her oversee and redesign their online stores. This is no doubt a favourable partnership for the “I” lovers who can anticipate wearable technology when these two companies join force to bring the anticipated (and well rumoured) “iWatch” product to the fashion-tech industry. You can gamble (but within your limits) that the final design of the iWatch will make the “007” watches look simplistic. The cost however, will be anything but simple and will be sure to uphold the Apple-Burberry reputation (which means I better start saving now).  

FINAL WORDS – THE GLASS IS HALF EMPTY

With six weeks still remaining I am anticipating that my group research project will continue to guide me into how to use more technology tools such as TodaysMeet and Google Docs Presentation (sneak peek for the upcoming weeks), in a collaborative learning environment. I am continually discovering that with each new digital tool comes a new lesson learnt – and even though each lesson is not as easy as the tool proclaims it to be, it is still worth the invested time to seek the advantages and embrace the frustrations, and solutions, that may occur with technology mishaps. Only then can I truly explore if these new digital tools are worthy to be placed within my PLE.

I am eager to complete my PLE but am also apprehensive about ensuring that I choose the most effective digital tools that meet my personal and professional needs. In most cases, I am a very optimistic person; however, until I reach the end of my current course (the whole reason for this blog), I must allow myself to explore all the advantages and pit-falls of these tools prior to finalizing my PLE. This would only be fair to say if I want to ensure that I become a model digital citizen. 

References:

Chen, B.X & Scott, M. (2013, October, 15). Apple hires burberry chief to polish image of online stores, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/technology/apple-hires-burberry-ceo-angela-ahrendts.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Ribble, M. (2013). Digital citizenship: Using technology appropriately. Retrieved from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Home_Page.html

Pinola, M. (2012, November 29). What's all the fuss about evernote? Should I be using it? Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5964285/whats-all-the-fuss-about-evernote-why-do-people-use-it

Thurrott, P. (2012, January 14). What I use: Evernote and Microsoft Word for writing. Retrieved from http://winsupersite.com/article/paul/evernote-word-writing-141902