Websites of the Week: Note-taking Tools

Study smarter, not harder!

This week we are focusing on great websites for note-taking.  Change the way you keep track of notes by using one of these online resources.  With online notes, you always have a backup, and easy access (as long as you have an Internet connection.)

Noodle Tools

NCS has a school-wide subscription to Noodle Tools, a great note-taking and citation tool.  Anytime you come to the library, you've probably heard about this tool as part of our instruction.  Noodle Tools allows you to easily create MLA and Turabian bibligoraphies.

Over the summer, Noodle Tools was updated to provide more features, making it easier to link notes to sources and class projects.  The NCS librarians look forward to integrating more of these new tools into our instruction.

If you haven't already done so, make sure to create a personal Noodle Tools account by following the instructions in our Tips In a Minute Series on NoodleTools. Updates to these videos will be coming soon!

Evernote

Evernote is Mr. Chase's organization and note-taking application of choice.  Evernote is a web-based service that also has applications for Mac, PC, iPhone and Android.  To get started with Evernote, simply create an account, create folders, and begin taking notes.

In addition to traditional typed notes, Evernote also lets you easily copy entire webpages, upload PDFs and other documents to a note, add images, and even forward email messages to your Evernote account.

Watch this quick video to learn more about how Evernote works.

Diigo

Diigo is a web-based highlighting, screen-capturing, and note-taking tool.  It's a great way to highlight text and add sticky notes directly on web pages in order to save them later.  Like Evernote, in order to use Diigo, you need to create an account, download a bookmarklet to your Internet browser, and then begin research.


To learn more about Diigo, watch the video on the Diigo homepage.

Voicethread - The New Training for "Teaching Tools on Your Time"

As part of the NCS Library’s "Teaching Tools on Your Time" series, we are hosting a new Alternative Presentation Tools training session on one of the hottest new sites in education:  Voicethread.

What is Voicethread?

Voicethread is a unique collaborative presentation application, kind of like a PowerPoint that encourages users to comment upon each slide.  Instead of "slides," however, you can add multiple kinds of content, including videos, images, text documents and more.

It may be hard to think of how you might use this service in the classroom at first, but many educators are using Voicethread to great effect.

• Create a collaborative study guide, with audio comments to lead a discussion
• Have students use a private Voicethread to collaborate on a project from different locations.  Each student can comment upon one particular slide, all as part of a group project.
• Narrate your PowerPoint lessons, encouraging students to comment upon ideas or topics raised.

Each time a user comments on a Voicethread, their comment is added to the end of a playlist.  This way you can "watch" a voicethread in a way similar to a Youtube video.  It's incredibly easy to create a Voicetherad, and even easier to comment upon a previously-created Voicethread.

Schedule a Training

To set up a time for training, email Chip Chase and list your available times.

We are still training users on Glogster, so if you'd like to learn how to use that website, let us know.

Also, if there is a specific technology tool that you would like to implement in your classroom, but not covered in our Teaching Tools on Your Time website, please let us know and we'd be glad to help provide training for you or your students.

Previous Posts

• Announcing Library Training Series: "Teaching Tools On your Time" - Glogster

Websites of the Week - Create a Dynamic Homepage

For this week's Websites of the Week, we are focusing on Dynamic Homepages!

What's your Internet Browser Homepage?  Do you use the NCS Website?  Yahoo?  Google?

Consider making one of these dynamic websites your homepage: Symbaloo, iGoogle, Netvibes, or Pageflakes.

These websites were created specifically with the thought of being a personal homepage.  Many offer the ability to add your own websites and widgets.  Getting access to your important websites might become a whole lot easier!

Symbaloo

Symbaloo is a great site that allows you to organize your favorite websites by topic, using iPhone-like icons, which the site calls "tiles" to access links.  You can easily customize tiles by dragging and dropping them around your page, creating new tiles from your favorite bookmarks, color-coordinating tiles by subject, and more. 

Create a free account to set up your own Symbaloo page.  You can easily make this your homepage on home and school computers.

iGoogle

iGoogle allows you to create your own customized "skin" over the Google search page we've all come to know and love.  Instead of just a simple Google search, you can add your own widgets to get more use out of the page.

Choose a background theme, add customized widgets, like the NYT news feed, Gmail and Google Reader feeds.  Or follow your favorite blogs and websites directly on this page. (Subscribe to the NCS Library blog and get all these great tips directly on your Internet Browser Homepage!)

Netvibes

Netvibes lets you create a personal dashboard by choosing varied widgets and content-channels from dropdown menus. You can easily add news feeds that interest you, and even pre-created feeds regarding certain topics.  Netvibes also allows you to add multiple homepages through tabs, and keep track of other user-created sites.

Pageflakes

Pageflakes is very similar to Netvibes.  It allows you to easily create portals of varied content by selecting modules from drop-down menus. You can easily add widgets, and even pre-created feeds regarding certain topics.  Pageflakes also allows you to add multiple homepages through tabs, and keep track of other user-created Pageflakes.

Printing from the Thin Clients

In order to add a printer to the Thin Clients in the library, or in Hearst Hall, watch the video below. Note: there is no sound.

Wireless Network Now Available in the Library

The wireless Internet connection is now available in the Library.  If you need to connect to the network with a personal computer, please see Mr. Rentz or Mr. Chase.

Thanks to the tech department for their hard work!

Announcing Library Training Series: "Teaching Tools on Your Time"

The NCS Upper School Library is expanding our Digital Literacy initiative with a new year-long faculty/staff training series: "Teaching Tools on Your Time."

About the Training Series

Each quarter, we will focus on different types of web tools, such as alternative presentation tools, widgets to enhance your Moodle page, organization tools, and more.  Every few weeks we will highlight and provide training for what we consider the best web tools currently available.  Trainings will be held in the Upper School Library's Multimedia lab and scheduled at the faculty's convenience.

To learn more about the training series, go to the "About the Trainings" section on the NCS Library Website.

Our Inspiration

The constant and easy availability of information on the Internet has changed the way we experience the world.  These changes are also affecting education.  Our Internet-saturated students have new expectations of education and technology.

Watch the video below for a great example of a 21st Century student who has, with the help of her teachers, empowered her own learning through free tools available online.

Alternative Presentation Tools 

For the First Quarter (September 2010 - October 2010), we will focus on Alternative Presentation Tools.  While PowerPoint is a standard technology that often gets the job done, there are a slew of new sites online that can easily and effectively engage your students in the classroom.

Break the mold and consider using something other than Power Point!  Either implement these tools yourself, or have students turn in assignments using these tools. 

First Alternative Presentation Tutorial: Glogster

The first Alternative Presentation tool we will focus on is Glogster EDU, an interactive web-based tool that permits users to create an online poster.  On this poster, you can add various elements such as sound, video, animated graphics, and web links, that are not possible when designing a conventional poster.

Glogster also allows users to become more creative because of the site's multi-dimensional interface. Glogster is a green technology, and you can even embed finished "glogs" in your Moodle account or elsewhere.  Here's an example of one of the library's glogs: 

Click here to view the Glogster in a larger window.

Schedule a Training

To set up a time for training, email Chip Chase and list your available times.

Also, if there is a specific technology tool that you would like to implement in your classroom, but not covered in our Teaching Tools on Your Time website, please let us know and we'd be glad to help provide training for you or your students.

Replace your audience response systems with Poll Everywhere

What's New in the Library Multimedia Lab?

We have purchased a variety of new equipment to start off the new school year.

Remember, students and faculty can check out camera and other multimedia equipment from the library on a nightly basis for use on school projects.

Take a look at some of our new equipment:

2 Flip HD Slide Camcorders

These camcorders are ideal for capturing quick video. Borrow one from the library to easily film classroom projects and events. Mr. Chase will be glad to help you upload your video to Youtube and embed the clip on your Moodle account.

2 Vixia HD Camcorders

These camcorders capture high quality HD  video, ideal for longer video projects. These camcorders also record to a built-in flash card instead of Mini-DV tapes, so you don't have to worry about accidentally recording over important video! Mr. Chase will be glad to train you on the use of the camcorders.

2 Panasonic Lumix Cameras

These point and shoot cameras come with built-in GPS tracking. These cameras are ideal for field trips where you can capture the exact location of where you took the image. These cameras will be ideal if you want to create Google Map field-trip report.

(For more information, check out our new Teacher Tools in Your Time: Alternative Presentation Tools web page.)

1 Apple Trackpad

Take a look at this Apple trackpad in the library to see what all the fuss is about. The trackpad brings the Mac laptop's gesture-based trackpad functionality to the Apple desktop.

2 RCA Digital Audio Recorders

These audio recorders make it easy to quickly record audio.  The built-in USB port makes it easy to transfer the audio files to your computer.

 

1 Display Screen

This screen will be used in the Multimedia lab for faculty/staff trainings, as well as for student instruction.