Evernote for Everything Education!

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. --Aristotle

The internet is overflowing with enthusiastic posts from teachers about how they use Evernote in the classroom. This post from Michael Cruz (2011) provides a thorough look at using Evernote from a teacher's perspective. I particularly like his idea of using Evernote to compile Pro-D material and teaching resources. He also suggests using it as a place to keep/share handouts; however, many teachers use wikis or moodle to provide handouts to kids which also works well.

Buffy Hamilton's (2011) post at Evernote is perhaps the most useful in terms of discussing how students can use Evernote. She writes that "Evernote [is a] perfect solution for the students’ need to archive and organize traditional and non-traditional sources of information". Her write-up got me thinking about how I would encourage secondary students to use Evernote. Certainly, setting up a notebook for each course makes sense. What could go in each notebook?

• Assignments: no more lost work and available from all computers
  
• Notes: scan them in and tag them!
• Relevant websites, emails and tweets

Imagine... misplaced binders would become a problem of the past and notebooks could be shared between classmates AND teachers. Really, it's a revolutionary way to go paperless... it sure makes me wish my district had more access to technology such as laptops, iPads, etc.

My use of Evernote at the online school is a work-in-progress, I currently use it to keep track of notes regarding individual students, as well as course and project sign-up lists, etc. I have attached useful websites to notes for certain students with unique needs. I also use it to keep track of administrative trivia that is easily forgotten or misplaced.

Because of Evernote's infinitely flexible approach to organization, research and file-keeping, when and if I finally land a library position, I would put Evernote at the top of my list as a Web 2.0 tool to highlight with students and other teachers. I would also find it extremely useful in terms of collaborating with departments and individual teachers on their teaching material, as well as keeping track of all the data and ideas that constantly flow through a librarian's head! Evernote has, so far, been a highlight of my web tools adventure.

References

Hamilton, B. (2011, January 5). How my students started using Evernote - education series. Retrieved from http://blog.evernote.com/2011/01/05/how-my-students-started-using-evernote-education-series/

Cruz, M. (2011, January 13). 10 tips for teachers using Evernote - education series. Retrieved from http://blog.evernote.com/2011/01/13/10-tips-for-teachers-using-evernote-education-series/