This past week, my students did not have access to the iPad they had been using this year. They were being used in the Science department as part of the ongoing pilot. I gave students plenty of warning in advance, but I wasn't sure how they were going to handle the change. Kids can be funny when it comes to change.
Well, they did not melt down. The kids quickly took out there personal devices, opened up Evernote, and got to work. Some students needed to download Evernote to their device, but they had the support of other students to direct them to the right place. It was awesome. Using Evernote in class allowed the students to transition to a non-iPad environment very quickly. Even if the internet went down, they could still use the app and sync the notes when they had access later.
Some students did not have access to a personal device and needed to take notes by hand. I apologized to one student who was taking notes by hand for the first time in months. They said it was not that big of a deal. They intend to just take pictures of the notes and upload them to Evernote at a later date. Awesome! I could also let them use the new Doxie Go scanner I have been playing around with if they would like. The scanner can send scanned papers directly to an Evernote account. It is an amazing scanner for a decent price. It's worth checking out if you have lots of papers you want to organize in Evernote.
I'm very happy that I've been able to pilot Evernote Schools with my iPads. It has created a very solid note-taking environment for my students that is not solely dependent on the device and my students saw that this week. More of my students are now looking to use their personal devices in their other classes. I hope this little experiment pushes more students to think more about the tool and less about the device. It has definitely changed my thought process.
If you want to start your Evernote journey now, follow this link to sign up!
Well, they did not melt down. The kids quickly took out there personal devices, opened up Evernote, and got to work. Some students needed to download Evernote to their device, but they had the support of other students to direct them to the right place. It was awesome. Using Evernote in class allowed the students to transition to a non-iPad environment very quickly. Even if the internet went down, they could still use the app and sync the notes when they had access later.
Some students did not have access to a personal device and needed to take notes by hand. I apologized to one student who was taking notes by hand for the first time in months. They said it was not that big of a deal. They intend to just take pictures of the notes and upload them to Evernote at a later date. Awesome! I could also let them use the new Doxie Go scanner I have been playing around with if they would like. The scanner can send scanned papers directly to an Evernote account. It is an amazing scanner for a decent price. It's worth checking out if you have lots of papers you want to organize in Evernote.
I'm very happy that I've been able to pilot Evernote Schools with my iPads. It has created a very solid note-taking environment for my students that is not solely dependent on the device and my students saw that this week. More of my students are now looking to use their personal devices in their other classes. I hope this little experiment pushes more students to think more about the tool and less about the device. It has definitely changed my thought process.
If you want to start your Evernote journey now, follow this link to sign up!
Fantastic! Yet another reason to allow personal devices like smartphones in the classroom; not to mention utilizing cloud-based applications like Evernote.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Now, would you please come to my son's high school?!