Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Tips on getting started with Evernote

Evernote graphic

Evernote is my main tool for work and home. I've been using it for 5 years and love it. It can be tough for someone new to Evernote to get started with it.

Here is a great article by an on-line friend of mine, Tim Stiffler-Dean, about how Evernote can be a little overwhelming at first and how to get over that.

Here is also a great article, and video, from Evernote on getting started and my main Evernote page has ideas on getting started.

I also told another on-line colleague that I would give him some tips on getting started with Evernote for his specific needs.

He teaches technology and physics, assists with the school network, and writes a tech column for a newspaper. Here are some ideas for using Evernote for each of these:

Teaching: (see here for more on how I used Evernote as a teacher)

  • lesson plan resources (from books, web sites, magazines, files)
  • lesson plans - schedule of what you are doing each day, linked to the actual lesson plan in Evernote
  • unit plans and resources (attached files, links, web clippings)
  • curriculum
  • project ideas
  • student work and e-portfolio's

School Network

  • specs of all equipment
  • network map
  • to do list
  • web clippings of articles that are useful
  • equipment information
  • plans
Writer: ( I do this for the articles I write for this blog and two tech magazines)
  • story ideas
  • notes
  • clippings of research
  • articles themselves

Hope this helps!


Related:

My Workflow as CIO - includes heavy use of Evernote



Monday, December 23, 2013

My Workflow as CIO - includes heavy use of Evernote



I am the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for an urban public school district. We have over 21,000 students, 3500 faculty and staff, 40 buildings, 15,000 devices, a full data center and fiber network, and an IT department staff of 15. We manage multiple large IT projects at once, including desktops, Chromebooks, Smartboards, network upgrades, Kronos, printers, new school construction, multiple network applications and software, and also consult on all technology issues and purchases in the district.


I have specific workflow that I have developed over the last year to help stay organized and on schedule.


I check emails when I get up for any critical issues (sent from monitoring software) or emergent needs. When I arrive at work, I login to my computer and check emails again, along with my calendar and tasks for the day. Then I check in with my staff and network engineers and technicians to discuss tasks and projects for the day, and anything they need from me.


I monitor the work orders in Track-It, which is our help desk software. I review work orders and reassign, add notes, comment, address the issue, as needed.


Throughout the day I answer emails, monitor Track-It, communicate with my staff on projects, consult with other district and school staff, work with vendors, manage projects, and more.


At the end of the day, I review the current day and make notes for the next day - tasks, follow-ups, and priorities. I check with with my staff and make notes on their projects.


Evernote graphic


The main tool that I use for all of this is Evernote.  I use Evernote for, well, everything. I have project management notes with schedules, tasks, attached files and more. I clip news articles for review, vendor websites, all my contacts, clip emails, with the attachments, from Outlook, notes, tech reference, personnel files, etc. You name it, it's all in Evernote for one-stop access, from any device, anywhere.


I have notebooks setup for projects, personnel, vendors, reference notes, tasks, contacts, to do later, to read later, etc. I have a main note, Project/Task Management, that I use as my task list. I can reorganize the tasks based on priority. Each task links to another note with more details. I have this note divided up with Follow Up, Priority 1, Priority 2 and Priority 3 tasks. These get moved around a lot as priorities change.


By linking to other notes, my task list is clean, but each task is linked to more details. The green ones are linked to other Evernote Notes.




Each note also has attached files as needed - quotes, specs, spreadsheets, documents, and more. I also clip emails using the Evernote clipper for Outlook - it clips the email chain, along with attachments. I can then merge or link this note to other project notes and keep everything in one place. Instead of emails in Outlook, notes in Evernote and files on my computer, everything is in one place in Evernote.


I also have meeting notes, personnel files, schedules, and reference files and notes in Evernote. I clip websites and documents from online with the Evernote clipper and save them to the proper notebook. I use Evernote Clearly to clean up the page before I clip it also. You can also clip online PDF documents directly into Evernote.


I also forward emails or send files and notes from other apps to Evernote via email. You get a special email address to use.

The other nice thing about Evernote is that you can share notes with others, even if they don't have an Evernote account, for them to view. It is very easy to do. You can also share notes with others who have Evernote accounts and allow them to edit them.


I use the Evernote Scanner from Fujitsu (the Fujitsu ScanSanp scanners work to) for one click scanning into Evernote. All paper documents, print magazine articles, print brochures, conference materials, etc. gets scanned into Evernote and organized.


Meeting notes are taking in a variety of ways - type directly into Evernote, audio recording into Evernote, Livescribe Pen directly into Evernote, handwritten notes scanned into Evernote, and even notes take with other apps copied into Evernote.

If you open an attached file by double clicking it in Evernote (and it opens in created software such as Word), edit it and click "save" it updates the file in Evernote.


By keeping everything in Evernote, I can easily link or merge items, organize them by notebook and tags, easily search them and access everything - notes, emails, clippings, and files - in one place, from any device or computer. I use the Windows Desktop app at work and on my home laptop and then access my data with the Android App on my HTC One and Nexus 7, and the web app on my Chromebook and from other computers.

You can even set reminders for notes so that you don't forget to do something. Great for following up on tasks.

Evernote is available in free and premium versions. The premium version allows you to upload more data each month, have offline notes in the apps, and more. It's well worth it.


Here is a listing of my notebooks I have for CIO. "CIO 1 Main" is my active projects and includes my project lists, to do's, and more.




Here’s more information on Evernote:


Evernote Clearly:


Livescribe Pens:


Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanners:


Evernote Scanner:






Friday, December 20, 2013

Google Apps for Edu: Learning the Ropes - guest post



By: Rob May, CEO, Backupify

More and more schools today are moving their data to the cloud, and more specifically to Google Apps. In the past two years, there has been a 100 percent increase in the number of students using Google Apps for Education – with 72 of the top 100 Universities (based on US News & World Report) using Google Apps and saving upwards of $1.5M annually.

The shift to this new solution is exciting but can be stressful if participants are not sure how exactly to use the platform. Google Apps for Edu is a powerful application that, like many other technologies and workflows, must start with basic training. How do you make sure your school is ready to go? Follow these steps:

1. Gain support from school administration: Like any new technology, the key for rapid adoption is to get major stakeholders behind the platform. Before spreading the word on Google Apps to teachers and students, provide the administration with an informational training session. If they understand how to use it, see its value and begin leveraging the service for internal documents, the rest of the staff will be more likely to adopt it quickly.

2. Get feedback and revise your training accordingly: After the first round of administration training, ask participants what they thought of the experience. Gauge which tactics worked and modify those that did not. For example, if participants found you spent too long on Gmail but not enough time on Google Drive, consider amending the schedule for the next round of training accordingly.

3. Assemble Google App Guides: Select individuals within the school to be the "go-to-resources" on all things Google. This group should get advanced training and can actually become Google Apps certified. Now they can easily organize and lead training sessions for other teachers and students.

4. Visit the Google Learning Center early and often: The Google Learning Center provides a wealth of tools for both those just getting started in Google Apps and those that are experts on the platform. The site breaks down each app and provides detailed training videos for users to watch. Google also puts on conventions throughout the year to share the latest updates on the platform. Check out the list of Google in Education Global Summits and see when sessions are going on near you.

5. Back up so nothing gets lost in the shuffle: The Google Apps service provides limited backup for all the documents stored within it. . Bring in a third party solution to ensure a secure, second copy of all information is always readily available. With new users on the platform, there's likely to be user error that could put vital data at risk.

There are several resources available for those who are implementing Google Apps. One is our newest eBook, “Mastering Google for the Classroom.” Google is constantly updating the Google Apps platform and there is always more to learn. Getting your school on Google Apps is the first step. As you continue to use the platform for every day learning, be sure to keep up with the latest it has to offer. This will not only ensure you are taking full advantage of what Google has to offer, but it also will guarantee your Google Apps experience is a success.

Related:





Friday, December 13, 2013

Google Tips - quick, easy tips for using Google products



Google has just released Google Tips, quick, easy tips for using Google Products.

It is setup in a card format, using simple, easy terms (not tech-speak). You can see them all, mobile, home, office, or by product.

Click on the card to get more info. Most have some kind of video to show you how to do it, or very simple instructions.

This is a great resource for anyone, especially schools using Google apps.







Related:








LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...