All Latest Earning Stuff: OneNote

Showing posts with label OneNote. Show all posts

Note Taking- Marrying Pen & Paper with the Cloud

One of the really important skills that students need to develop is their ability to take notes in class. While many students have access to digital devices many still rely on traditional pen and paper for note taking. While the research would support (<a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/04/22/0956797614524581.abstract#aff-2" target="_blank">The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking</a>, Psychological Science,  <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/search?author1=Pam+A.+Mueller&sortspec=date&submit=Submit">Pam A. Mueller</a> &  <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/search?author1=Daniel+M.+Oppenheimer&sortspec=date&submit=Submit">Daniel M. Oppenheimer</a> first published on April 23, 2014) the use of pen and paper- wouldn’t it be great to be able to marry both the ink with digital technology to take advantage of the best of both worlds. In this post I'll share with you a couple of different strategies that students might find helpful to marry ink with their digital world. <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 7.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><o:p></o:p></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3IgvKHHDk-fNBDYeKDMoNVuFpfK8ZibrhCCGnljoR1Q0KuVVOvnEvx-sEQdUEt0sAWU4KwmRu_5LCiOKGFRZSq2Hwzcp9BGSa0VzPYmoibGtFhkl06hkZjjfAiqwksZh89X7h_j3U6I/s1600/smartstickers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3IgvKHHDk-fNBDYeKDMoNVuFpfK8ZibrhCCGnljoR1Q0KuVVOvnEvx-sEQdUEt0sAWU4KwmRu_5LCiOKGFRZSq2Hwzcp9BGSa0VzPYmoibGtFhkl06hkZjjfAiqwksZh89X7h_j3U6I/s1600/smartstickers.jpg" /></a>One of my favorite note taking tools is <a href="http://evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote </a>which I have been using for some time now. Evernote is a great way to capture ideas, notes, images, audio and store it on the web for easy access. Not too long ago, Evernote in collaboration with <a href="https://store.moleskine.com/usa/Moleskine-/Evernote/C26?lang=en-gb&gclid=CjwKEAiAkvmzBRDQpozmt-uluCQSJACvCd1lBOk-PUVQH-yyNZ87txBwe3CgHAm6P1idYt9J6VLEcxoCc4Hw_wcB" target="_blank">Moleskine </a>came out with journals that allow students to quickly move their handwritten notes to the cloud with full searching capabilities. The system is very easy to use and would give students the ability to continue to take notes as they always have using pen and paper. When they are done they can use Smart Stickers that come with the Evernote writing journals to quickly file their notes using the camera on any tablet or smart phone. The Smart Stickers are quite ingenious. Using the camera on a tablet or smartphone you can associate a sticker with a particular notebook. For example, if you associate the sticker that has a House icon on it with your Science notebook, then when you take a picture of that page that has the house sticker affixed, it automatically will file the note in your Science notebook. The Evernote system works great and one of the big advantages of this system is that you can easily search all your handwritten notes. Evernote will OCR all of your handwritten notes and make searching very easy.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_-C3evxAEHOpf_dBEsbg6D0Pwv4low_u76yOyF_61GeXCeypfasaBsb_sPUxIRYGqRy6jK58L0xnHsMB6bmhf4Of19puMrrZIPTqZpOuEDsZ41_9XIYNU9SoZ0iuOcHYO9Q4Xj5YEZI/s1600/livescribe3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_-C3evxAEHOpf_dBEsbg6D0Pwv4low_u76yOyF_61GeXCeypfasaBsb_sPUxIRYGqRy6jK58L0xnHsMB6bmhf4Of19puMrrZIPTqZpOuEDsZ41_9XIYNU9SoZ0iuOcHYO9Q4Xj5YEZI/s1600/livescribe3.jpg" /></a> For the students that want to add more functionality to their hand written notes they should take a look at the <a href="http://livescribe.com/" target="_blank">Livescribe</a> smartpens. Livescribe has been developing this technology for the last seven years and allows students not only to record ink, but also the associated audio. For students that have difficulty taking notes and listening at the same time the Livescribe pen can be a great note taking strategy for them. Livescribe not too long ago came out with the <a href="http://livescribe.com/" target="_blank">Livescribe 3 pen</a> which pairs to an iPhone or Android phone and uses the microphone and speaker on the phones for recording and playing back note-using Low-Energy Bluetooth to save their work. All of the students notes automatically get sent to the Livescribe + app on the student's device which can then be shared with <a href="http://onenote.com/" target="_blank">Onenote </a>or <a href="http://evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a>. This combination of services gives students access to their Livescribe notes in the cloud for easy access. Using the Livescribe 3 pen makes it easy to take notes and gives students that extra safety net-in that their notes also now can include audio.  <div> </div><div>Students will find both solutions easy to implement and depending on their learning profile will find value in each of the approaches. That being said, both solutions allow student to marry ink and paper with the digital world making their notes searchable and accessible which after all is the whole idea.</div><div> </div><div> <div> </div></div>

Note Taking- Marrying Pen & Paper with the Cloud

One of the really important skills that students need to develop is their ability to take notes in class. While many students have access to...

December 26, 2015

A Week with the Surface 3 – First Impressions

A couple of weeks ago out of the blue I received an email invitation from <a href="http://microsoft.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Microsoft </a>to attend a party in New York City on March 31st. For the life of me, I could not figure out what this event would highlight-you see, it seemed like the timing was all off for a big announcement. But then on March 31, Microsoft announced the Surface 3 tablets which caught us all off guard. Microsoft announced the new Surface 3 with the latest Atom “Cherry Trail” processor, which would run Windows 8.1 and <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGs_aegFpm0qQpoAWu-15dyNIdeqs4G75naVBzWAOgvAHH9ur2mv5Sk0mshoapZ4WwwsacJZ1mqRzXOT0bfN7_idM5C01b4cv4-nSIe4pSU5EMYMH6fASzegKkcSU_DAv-wzaapXnau6Y/s1600/s3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGs_aegFpm0qQpoAWu-15dyNIdeqs4G75naVBzWAOgvAHH9ur2mv5Sk0mshoapZ4WwwsacJZ1mqRzXOT0bfN7_idM5C01b4cv4-nSIe4pSU5EMYMH6fASzegKkcSU_DAv-wzaapXnau6Y/s1600/s3.png" width="320" /></a></div><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8315753f-8e0c-4839-9bc6-f7627f57f9dd" id="577417ed-0d81-4333-8895-8494665de076">be</gs> <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8315753f-8e0c-4839-9bc6-f7627f57f9dd" id="26740314-778f-4811-bf1f-83a7856a01c7">upgradeable</gs> to Windows 10 when it is released later this summer. The specifications noted that the Surface 3 weighted in at 1.37 pounds with a 10.8 diagonal screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1920 x 1280. The Surface 3 has a built-in kickstand that can be locked into 3 different positions and has a micro –SD slot. By all accounts the Surface 3 is a lightweight tablet with enough horsepower to run Office, legacy Windows software, surf the web and promise great all day battery life. My expectations were running high for a tablet with this form factor and one that could utilize the Surface touch type keyboard and digital inking pen. Having a mobile and a light weight tablet to run Office and some of the specialized assistive technology software that I often use is important for me. To say the least there was a lot of excitement leading up to the Launch Event of Surface 3 in NYC!  Having arrived to the event a little early, I walked into the Microsoft loft and was really excited to see all of the new Surface 3’s on display to touch and play with. Picking up the tablet I was amazed just how light it was and typing on the touch type keyboard was a great experience. The Surface 3 looked great with a wonderful build quality and feels great in your hands. Having had my hands on one the screen is really gorgeous and very bright with excellent contrast. During the event, I had a chance to speak with many of the Microsoft engineers that were on the Surface Team which was really great. As the evening came to an end one of the Microsoft engineers announced that we would all go home with a Surface 3 to test and kick the tires-which created quite a stir. So for the past week I have been using the Surface 3 with different applications to get a sense of how it handles itself. Having used the Surface Pro 3, I was excited to learn that the Surface 3 starts at just $499 for a 2GB RAM and a 64 GB SSD. For another hundred dollars you can double the RAM to 4GB and the SSD to 128 GB and will pay $599. Bear in mind that educators can get a 10% discount when purchasing the Surface 3. When purchasing the Surface 3 you will probably want to invest in the Touch Type keyboard which will cost you $129 dollars and the pen will set you back $49 dollars. To be honest, you will definitely want to invest in these accessories which will give you the full Surface 3 experience. Having a touch keyboard that you can pop in and out with a click is great and adds very little weight to the package.  If you ever thought about moving all your note-taking to the digital realm, then you have to experience OneNote and the Surface 3 <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c26d8bd2-b185-4e86-9f61-1d4074e13a1e" id="d2ec7f7f-13fe-44e4-9c8a-075404aeafc8">pen</gs>. The digital inking experience on the Surface 3 is exactly what you would experience on the Surface Pro 3. With palm rejection and the silky feel of the pen on the screen you will feel right at home taking notes using OneNote. The Surface experience is probably one of the best writing experiences you will find on any tablet. One of the nice tricks when using the pen is that you can tap on the eraser and this will automatically open a blank page in OneNote ready for you to start writing. Even when your Surface 3 is asleep tapping on the eraser of the pen will automatically wake up your Surface 3 and open OneNote.  The Surface 3 supports Miracast and I was able to quickly connect it to my HDMI TV with the <a href="http://www.actiontec.com/332.html" target="_blank">Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition</a>. This combination of Surface 3 and OneNote with the <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPF4nfNn2kW1Jg9S1wSAFMULnDQsEx4Nujye3i7cRy1D4huIQG_ipa4XuHBpsxRCPVe0AmC1vccgBrNm-Iw-rxWs8R95a3q2cuINDFer0n_oqTRLBXTew3I8IFCY1Xm6-MT-13pP66eU/s1600/ScreenbeamPro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPF4nfNn2kW1Jg9S1wSAFMULnDQsEx4Nujye3i7cRy1D4huIQG_ipa4XuHBpsxRCPVe0AmC1vccgBrNm-Iw-rxWs8R95a3q2cuINDFer0n_oqTRLBXTew3I8IFCY1Xm6-MT-13pP66eU/s1600/ScreenbeamPro.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition is an ideal solution for the classroom-giving teachers the freedom to move about the classroom without being tethered to the projector. The Surface 3 just needs a case which would allow teachers to securely support the tablet-but since it is so light this will make for a great solution. Having learned that the Surface 3 was using an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor I was initially concerned about the speed and responsiveness of the tablet. However, after using it for a week I would have to say that it feels zippy and responsive using a wide range of applications. From opening web pages to word processing to utilizing mind mapping applications the Surface 3 handled it well without a hiccup. For educators who are not doing processor intensive tasks like video or photo editing the Surface 3 should meet all of your basic computing needs. Given that the Surface 3 is a full Windows 8.1 device, there are no limitations with regard to installing Modern apps or full Windows legacy applications.  Some other nice touches you find on the Surface 3 is a full USB 3.0 port a mini-display port and a micro-USB port. Being able to charge the Surface 3 with a micro-USB cable is ideal since you can always find one in your bag. The Surface 3 Pro had used a proprietary cable which, if you left it behind when you traveled you were sunk. So Microsoft listened to their customers and resolved this issue by providing micro-USB for charging. By the way I did learn that you can use the micro-USB port for transferring data, as well.  The Surface 3 specifications should hit that sweet spot for educators and consumers that are looking for a portable Windows tablet that can quickly transform into an ultra-light laptop by clicking <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="75f84967-6940-4d94-b8dd-97000f1e8f07" id="fca8da59-b058-41b9-8eeb-53175016823c">in</gs> the keyboard.  I found the Surface 3 to be a responsive tablet that exceeded my specifications. Like all new devices I did find some quirkiness with the Surface 3 recognizing the keyboard in certain instances. I’m sure there will be firmware updates shortly to address some of these issues. Having the Surface 3 in my bag will allow me the freedom to have a full featured Windows device that can run specialized software when I need it. The Surface 3 has a good price point which should make the Surface 3 a big success in the marketplace. The Surface 3 will go on sale later this week and will ship on May 5. <div> </div>

A Week with the Surface 3 – First Impressions

A couple of weeks ago out of the blue I received an email invitation from Microsoft to attend a party in New York City on March 31st. For th...

April 07, 2015

ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec

As a professor of education, I am always looking at new technologies that can enliven my classroom and give me and my students tools to share ideas. When I purchased my Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 8, I learned about an Intel standard called Wi-Di (Wireless Display) which allows you to stream the contents of your tablet or computer to a HDMI  device without cables or wires. Many educator often refer to Wi-Di by using the term Miracast to describe a peer-to-peer wireless screencasting standard formed via Wi-Fi Direct connections in a manner similar to Bluetooth. Having access to Wi-Di would be great for the classroom because it would enable me to move about the classroom without the need to be tethered to the projector. Since I had half the solution in the Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 8 running Windows 8.1, all I needed was a Miracast receiver to enable me to use this technology. Researching which Miracast receiver would be best, I came across the <a href="http://www.actiontec.com/325.html" target="_blank">ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec</a> which got great reviews from many educators on the web. ScreenBeam Pro for Education sells for $99 dollars and comes complete with everything you need to get started and also includes a HDMI to VGA converter which is ideal since many classrooms still have older projectors without a HDMI port.  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiDJ2XZrKMA2SZTtoWJDbW8wwfP1oRWdB3zHQRN2HFnWU5c7EFW-IE_n2VmVjwH9AIDIUtbv-FK041UE59PZ3uu0W-txrO-JUyfMdOqjQ_d0wG9JkTTl3ocmLJJWW-V74rnvQ0GQvtu20/s1600/Actiontec.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiDJ2XZrKMA2SZTtoWJDbW8wwfP1oRWdB3zHQRN2HFnWU5c7EFW-IE_n2VmVjwH9AIDIUtbv-FK041UE59PZ3uu0W-txrO-JUyfMdOqjQ_d0wG9JkTTl3ocmLJJWW-V74rnvQ0GQvtu20/s1600/Actiontec.JPG" width="320" /></a>The <a href="http://www.actiontec.com/325.html" target="_blank">ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec</a> is a small 2 inch square receiver that plugs into a HDMI device. In my case I plugged the VGA cable from my classroom computer into the HDMI to VGA converter and plugged it into the Screenbeam Pro. Since VGA does not support wireless audio out, I was able to plug it into the supplied RCA audio cable from my computer into the ScreenBeam Pro. Once I powered the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition the instructional landing screen was displayed and prompted me to enter the PIN. Once I entered the PIN, I was able to swipe in from the Charms menu click on Devices and select Project and select Add a Wireless Display.  Within a second or two the Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro device comes up and I simply clicked on that and within seconds my Dell Venue 8 Pro screen was projected on the screen in my classroom. I now opened OneNote and began writing write notes which were automatically displayed in my classroom. It was that simple.  One of the benefits of Miracast is that it does not require you to use the school's wireless network to set it up. Since ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition creates an ad hoc network it will not require IT support to get started. I was really excited with the out of the box experience and everything worked exactly as it should. If you have a Windows 8.1 tablet or computer that supports W-Di you really should take a look at ScreenBeam Pro for Education as a solution for giving you more flexibility when teaching in the classroom. I didn't have a chance to test it out but using the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition in the classroom will enable students with Miracast supported devices to project the contents of their screen to the entire class. The ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition enables teachers to secure the device and give permission to students to project their screen to the class.  If you are looking for an inexpensive way to cast your screen from your Windows 8.1 tablet or computer then you need to take a look at the ScreenBeam Pro for Education. ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition offers educators a great way to share the contents of the screen using Miracast technology. If you are trying to source the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition or are looking to implement ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition in your classroom <a href="mailto:brian@assistivetek.com" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">email </a>me for the details.  Unboxing the ScreenBeam Pro for Education <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0U67Qlb3cJ4" width="560"></iframe>

ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec

As a professor of education, I am always looking at new technologies that can enliven my classroom and give me and my students tools to shar...

June 26, 2014