My Electronic Brian

My Electronic Brian

For the past several years I’ve been trying to go paperless. I typically scan important documents, save information so it’s accessible from any computer or mobile device (i.e. iPad, iPhone, Blackberry), and I try not to print web pages, emails, or documents. Instead I store, organize and interact with all of this information digitally. It’s overwhelming sometimes, but I found the best way to manage this is with electronic notebook software called Evernote.

Evernote allows you to create notebooks that you can sync between multiple devices, including the web. With Evernote, I’m able to make audio, video, or text notes, and I can clip information from the web or certain desktop applications – like Microsoft Outlook. I use Evernote for a range of things:

· Research for work, school, or travel

· Save receipts

· Store recipes

· Save important voicemails

· Store business cards and contact information

· Lists

· Manage passwords, and account information for work.

· Small scale project management.

I like Evernote so much that I encourage my employees to use it too.

Evernote also integrates nicely with other applications too, like livescribe. And, you can share all of your notes with others via email, the web, or social networking. This makes is a great collaborative tool for education.

It’s a remarkable piece of software that truly helps you get organized.

Ten Tech Commandments from the ISTE Conference

I recently watched a video presentation from the international, ISTE conference. The title of the session was “The Tech Commandments, ten ideas to help revitalize education using Ed Tech.” It was more appropriately a list of ten things the presenter learned through supporting and working with Educational Technology in day schools. His rules for using educational technology are mostly common sense, but they are not necessarily obvious.

There were some valuable take-a-ways from the seminar, and I’d like to share those I think are most relevant to implementing and supporting technology. My comments follow each rule.

1. Don’t trap technology in a room.
There are so many mobile devices that learning can take place anywhere, anytime. This is especially true with the introduction of tablet devices, smart phones, and net books. It’s easier than ever to carry a device with you that provides access to mobile learning. An excellent example is wireless generation.

2. Technology should be ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.
I agree. Technology is not the object; learning is. If the tool gets in the way technology will simply be a distraction. This isn’t helpful for students or teachers. It requires a great deal of planning and practice for technology to be seamless. So, implementing educational technology requires thought.

3. Training is essential.
If you don’t spend time teaching teachers how to use Smart Boards, learning management systems and other classroom systems they will go unused. By the time people start ‘figuring out’ how to use the technology, it will be out dated. Institutions must provide learning opportunities in any form that works.

4. People make technology work.
This is similar to item 3.

5. Long-term planning is part of educational technology.
It is our responsibility as technologist, or people with familiarity of Ed Tech to have a strategy for its use and be thoughtful about researching and planning for it.

6. Technology for technology’s sake doesn’t solve any problems.
In thinking about a technology for a school, it must meet a specific need. There are a lot of great tools available, but just because something looks useful, doesn’t meet it will work for your environment. This goes back to researching and planning.