Using Evernote in Your Classroom

I've written previously about how useful Evernote is for me in keeping organized.  (See The Joy of Evernote.)  Here is a great guide about using Evernote in the classroom.  Sections include "Why Evernote in Education?", "Top Reasons for Using Evernote", "Some Ways Students can use Evernote", video tutorials, and links for further resources.

More New Diigo Lists

• English Language Arts: www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/english-language-arts
• World Languages: www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/world-languages

There aren't a lot of resources on these lists yet, but I'll keep adding them as I find them.

New Diigo Lists for Math, Science, Social Science

I've added three subject-specific lists on Diigo, to share resources that I find that are relevant only to certain teachers.

• Math:  www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/math
• Science:  www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/science
• Social Science:  www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/social-science

I'll add to these lists throughout the year; I'll continue to add to the general EdTech list (www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/ed_tech); and I'll add other discipline-specific lists in the near future.

If This, Then That

Computers were supposed to make our lives easier, back in the day.  We all know the combination of truth and fiction that idea contains, but here is a website that might actually make your online life a little easier. IFTTT (If This, Then That) allows you to set up rules for all kinds of events, and then the website takes some action when that event happens.

For example, you might want to get a text message if the weather forecast includes rain (IF the weather forecast is rain, THEN send me a text).  There might be people whose Facebook posts you don't want to miss (IF Melissa posts on Facebook, THEN send it to me by email).  You might want to automatically re-tweet something from a particular group (IF "#edtech" appears in a tweet, THEN re-tweet it to my followers).  Maybe you want to automatically save articles from Google Reader (IF I star an article in Reader, THEN send it to my Evernote account).

There are a lot more possibilities, and this is where you might want to involve your students.  Having them come up with IF... THEN statements is a great way to (a) get them thinking about organizing themselves in the digital world and (b) get them started thinking about logical decision making, either for programming, or math, or science, or an essay that develops an argument.

IFTTT has potential to help you organize yourself and could benefit your students as well.

Why Aren't You Using Diigo?

Diigo (www.diigo.com) is a bookmark-sharing service.  It has plugins for all major browsers, so at its simplest, you can use it to keep your bookmarks accessible from multiple computers, tablets, and smartphones.  Beyond that, though, it has a social component.  I can follow other people and see what they are bookmarking, and they can do likewise for me.  (You can set saved links to be private, if you want.) You can also organize your bookmarks into lists and get a public link for a list, which you can then share by email or on a blog for anyone to see, regardless of whether or not they have a Diigo account.  Basic accounts are free; there are paid plans starting at $20/year; but educators get a free Education account that allows you to set up groups for students so you can share web resources with them.

As part of my new position, I have been reading and research a lot about 21st-century skills, promising instructional methods, Web 2.0 tools, and other education technology topics.  I save the web pages and articles I find most useful to Diigo.  You can sign up for Diigo and follow me if you want to see those articles as I post them.  If you don't want to sign up or follow me, you can always see my EdTech list by going to www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/ed_tech.  To get more information about Diigo itself, go to help.diigo.com/home.

The Joy of Evernote

One of the most useful tools I've come across is Evernote.  It's a program that allows you to write, copy, and store nearly anything you want: text, pictures, audio, video, web pages, etc.  There are downloadable Windows and Mac programs, a web interface, and iOS and Android apps as well.  They all sync with each other, so you can have your notes available no matter what device you are using.  There is a Web Clipper that you can use to copy the contents or URL of a web page you are visiting.  You can share notebooks with other users if you like.  It is remarkably easy to use and free if you don't upload too much per month.  Premium plans start at $5 per month.  Try it out at www.evernote.com.