New Jersey

A while ago, a friend from Diigo sent me an invite to a closed Beta release of a new Cloud-Computing tool called Evernote. It looked interesting, so I signed up. But then, like so many of the other cool tools we all come across on an almost daily basis, it sat on my computer for months collecting megabyte-dust. That is, until recently.

I’ve heard a number of people start to sing Evernote’s praises in the past couple of weeks, so I made a mental note (and a Jott ) to revisit the tool. Then, surprise, surprise, I got an email a couple of days ago that Evernote Beta has gone public, so everyone is now free to join (and the basic account IS free).

What is Evernote?

Evernote Blog » Blog Archive » How do you use Evernote? via kwout

If you use Jott, or have been thinking about checking it out, here’s a Step-by-Step blog post about how to sync Jott with Evernote. Sweet!

I think the most exciting potential for Evernote, is its Mobile component,which allows you to post and access all of your evernote notes anytime from anywhere.

Check out Evernote and let us know what you think. And, if you’re already using it, PLEASE share your experience!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: web2.0 tools

Check out this great new tool from GMail!

Gmail: Google’s approach to email via kwout
BTW: Lirpa Sloof

Today, Voice Thread is launching a new service that’s intended to solve some of the difficult accessibility issues of using VoiceThread in the classroom, as well as to create a place for students to work independently and develop their own portfolio of work. This new community called Ed.VoiceThread, is designed to allow simple, safe, and rich collaboration around multimedia within a secure environment. Built upon a foundation of accountability, all of the community’s users are known users, responsible for their content and behavior. Access is restricted to K-12 educators, students and administrators, and all content is created or vetted exclusively by registered members of the community.

Here’s a link to a more detailed description of the service

http://ed.voicethread.com/about/

Also, here is a link to two podcasts where  the service is discussed and why it was developed:

http://www.edtechtalk.com/node/2822
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/podpress_trac/web/2458/0/2008-01-18b-speedofcreativity.mp3
Spread the Word!

Recently, I posted on the issues of copyrighting in the 21st Century. Here’s an interesting “project” from the Library of Congress that can help students better understand the Creative Commons concept:

The Library of Congress has put up two VERY LARGE photo collections on Flickr for both educational use & to have the public add tags /comments to make the viewing experience “richer” for others. Looks like a great classroom tool to me!

Everyone’s familiar with the old adage: “If a tree falls in the woods & nobody is there to hear it , did it make a sound?”

Well, the other day I had one of those Aha! Technology moments that made me immediately think of that saying & tweak it to the following: “If an idea happens in the car & nobody hears it…” well, you can finish the rest.

Recently, I posted about one of my favorite new tools, Jott. Since posting, I’ve been using it on a DAILY basis to record reminders to myself in the car that automatically email themselves to me (or whomever I decide they should go to). Since I’m a very visual organizer, this is one of the greatest things since sliced bread to me.

A few days ago, while fully in the throws of my annual winter cold/flu/all around pain in the rear, I pretty much lost my voice. No big deal. That is, until I forgot & tried to speak when it actually counted. I was on my way home, lost in a million & one thoughts, hit Jott on my speed-dial to record an earth-shattering idea (it really was, I promise!), and BAMMM! I totally get shot down!

When you call Jott, it asks “Who do you want to Jott?” You can Jott yourself, or anyone else you’ve programmed in (easy process). Well, here’s the catch- it relies completely on voice recognition- i.e. if you’ve lost your voice you’re up a creek! After hearing the following three times: “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that”, I finally decided to admit defeat & go to Plan B (you’ve go to know when to fold ‘em) Now the problem became- I had no Plan B! Technology Aha! moment enter stage left. In a relatively short time, I had begun to rely on this one tool so much, that I didn’t know what to do when I couldn’t use it! It’d be one thing if my cell phone had died, lost signal, etc.- typical experiences that we’re all accustomed to dealing with at this point. But this was something totally foreign. Needless to say, the experience has really kept me green & reminded me to go easy on those around me who are still throughly entrenched in the green state.

So, as I fumbled through my purse, looking for some real-life, what do they call that stuff again…oh yeah, PAPER, trying not to drive off the road because God-forbid I actually pull over, or even worse, FORGET what I wanted to Jott, I thought about how TOTALLY ridiculous I must have looked, and had a GOOD LAUGH at my own expense.

As I love to say (thanks Peter Ustinov), “Take your responsibilities, not yourself, seriously!”

Sometimes I think I treat many of my tech tools as little mini- superheroes, swooping down into my chaotic life to help make everything ok- So, here’s my Aha! Tech Revelation:

Be Your Own Hero!

 photo: picasaweb

P.S. Thanks go out to Nancy Sharoff for letting me know that I never actually wrote what my Aha! moment was the 1st time I posted this

“kwout” is a way you quote a part of a web page as an image with an image map.

To use this service, all you need is to add the bookmarklet to your favorite browser.

ESPN - Cowboys will lose, but don’t blame Jessica - NFL via kwout

OK everyone- I’m like, totally going to use this tool ALL the time!

Jott is a free service that offers you a phone number to call in order to record a message that will be translated into text format and sent via email. Jotts can be sent to yourself or to a group of contacts. Jott can also import your email addresses from Yahoo, GMail and Outlook.

Here are some examples of what you can do:

• Jott yourself (sends you an email).  I’ve started doing this all the time in the car.  Hands-free reminders to myself that I can SEE in my email (which has basically become my to-do list).  Not quite sure yet if this extra efficiency isn’t just making more work for myself (i.e. I can’t “forget” to do the things I think of in the car anymore), but for now at least, I’m embracing it
• Jott someone else (sends him/her an email and/or a text message if you’ve entered phone numbers in your address book)
• “Bulk Jott” (sends message to a group).  Forgot to tell your students something in class & you suddenly remember while you’re in the car on your way to see the Nutcracker with your family on Sunday (yes, this happened to me yesterday)?  Bulk Jott everyone!
• Jott to your blog.  Jott supports the following blog engines:
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

• Jott to an Internet Voice Journal.
  • 
  • 
• Jott to your online calendar:
  • 
  • 

These are just some of the major ways I see Jott being useful in my own life.  Here’s a link that explains how other people use currently using Jott.

Now, the potential downside:

• Jott’s current technology has actual people (yes, real, live human beings) transcribing your messages.  Here are some potential issues I see with that:
  • maybe you feel uncomfortable knowing that a person is listening to your messages
  • increases the “ownership” issues of sharing intellectual property over a non-secure network (i.e. you might want to think twice before you Jott yourself a memo about the greatest idea since sliced bread that you churn up while sitting in traffic)
• The voice recognition has a few bugs- Jott seems to have trouble differentiating some key sounds, which translates into your contacts’ names not being recognized…A common problem that you can solve by saving contacts under more “unique” lables (I started doing this already for my OnStar car-phone)

Jott is not the only player in this game- but it’s interface is VERY user friendly.  SpinVox,a British company, offers a similar service and they use a Voice Message Conversion System (Not actual humans) to convert your messages to text.  I set up an account with them, which, FYI, took many more steps that it did with Jott, but I have yet to actually try it out & compare it to Jott- maybe you will & will let me know

So, although voice memo technology has been around for a long time, Jott offers a user-friendly way to convert those messages into text.  If you’re like me & need to SEE your to-do list, you might want to give it a try.  And then let us know what you think.

Does your school/district belong to the NJ Educational Computing Cooperative (NJECC)? If not, you should definately look into it. They are a great collaborative resource for the infusion of technology in education (What the DEN’s all about)! Each month, they have a “business” meeting, which also highlights a particular aspect of technolgy and education. October & November focused on Web 2.0 technology & Discovery Education was asked to lend its expertise. Scott Altschuler gave a great rundown of OnePlace & I shared a few worthwhile web tools that I use on a consistant basis.

If you have any questions about how to use these tools, ideas on how you use them, or any other tools that you just can’t live without, please SHARE your comments!!!

But Which Ones Should I Use???

With so many web tools to choose from, anyone could get easily & quickly lost in the sauce that is Web 2.0.  SEOmoz reviewed hundreds of sites in the Web 2.0 sphere to uncover the best in each of 41 categories. From there, they assembled a team of 25 of the most knowledgeable, well-respected experts in the field to vote on the winners (1st - 3rd place + Honorable Mention).  I highly suggest this as a jumping off point to find a web tool that you need.

 See my Tech With Me wiki (Web 2.0 Tools page) for more info

You’ve got to try this out! I can think of a THOUSAND different applications for this with my students & I’m sure you will too!

VoiceThread is an online media album that allows you to make comments, either audio or text, and share them with anyone you wish. A VoiceThread allows an entire group’s story to be told and collected in one place.

And, there’s an exciting bonus for educators- Since there are some uploading limits associated with basic accounts, educators can apply for a free educator “Pro” upgraded account by clicking the Go Pro! button on the Pro page and then by clicking the “K-12 educators click here.” link on the bottom of the menu.