Weekly Report and Reflection #6: Feeding the need to share

As a student, I often find it difficult to organize my thoughts and remember things. For example, the other day I saw an article that would be an interesting addition to my papers as it was an informative piece. I quickly shrugged it off though since I wasn't in the work mode and did not want to write down the citation. I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if there was a quick and easy method to save this document...

Enter Evernote, where web clipping is an easy plug-in that allows me to clip anything interesting I find on the internet and sync it straight to the actual application. This continuity is extremely pleasing and I never thought that I would use it as much as I have - for this class and many others. I like this tool because of its simplicity and pleasing design that is really easy to organize my personal notes from academic ones. Be able to use it over several platforms like my iPhone, Mac, and online makes it extremely reliable and can help me access my mind map anywhere I go! At first, I wasn't too thrilled with Evernote, but after using it I can definitely see myself using it in my PLE. It's and interesting mix of organizing, creating, and collaborating. It is a strong organizing tool because it allows me to take a second to collect my thoughts and put valuable resources in a visual platform, which is vital to a visual learner like myself. After aggregating information, I can use the web clipping function and syncing function to easily put all the resources in one place.

Yee, N. (CC) 2014.

It also allows for a great creating outlet, since I can write lengthy notes with all the functions I need to properly write (e.g. bold, underline, multiple fonts, etc.). This creating tool integrates well with the collaborate tool, since the newly created document can be easily shared by syncing it to my multitude of devices, and the ability to share notebooks means all my work partners can access the resources I create. So far I believe that Evernote is the most diverse tool I have used to date in this class. Not only does it apply to academic purposes, but personal too. I like the idea of using it as a personal Pinterest if you may. I am able to save cool thoughts and pictures that I've found on places like Feedly, for example…

Cedarkayak (2014).

I love outdoor photography, and being able to clip amazing photos for future enjoyment is wonderful. This artists work is available here, so be sure to visit and check out his adventures. To view the notebook I’ve been developing for this class click here. I hope to keep exploring the other functions this tool offers, but until then…

Cheers,

Nathan