Organizing With Evernote

[social-bio] Sticky notes, notebooks, loose leaf, Word documents…we all have different ways of taking and storing notes. Many of us even have multiple methods of taking notes. Last fall I began experimenting with Evernote and haven’t looked back.

Evernote is an application and also a website that is designed to take notes. You can easily type out text-based notes, take pictures, record audio and save online content. This may sound fairly common but there are a few things that set Evernote apart from its competitors.

• Free – there is a premium account but 99% of users only need the free features
• Works on all operating systems and devices – PCs, Macs, iPad, iPhone, Android Phones, Android Tablets, etc.
• Syncs with all of your devices – not only can you run Evernote on all of your devices, but a note you add on your phone will be immediately accessible on your computer (when connected to the internet) and vice-versa
• Search – you can easily search all of your notes. If you scan in documents or hand written notes, Evernote will even search those!
• Web Clipper – add the Evernote Web Clipper to your web browser and then you can easily add websites and articles to your notebook in order to read later
• Sharing – notebooks can be shared between multiple people

These are some impressive features, but how would you use it? Here are some ideas:

• For Students: use Evernote to take notes in your classes. Create a separate notebook for each class and you will be able to stay very organized, be able to search all of your notes and you will never lose them. If you need to take your notes by hand, consider scanning them into Evernote to archive and organize them.

• For Instructors:
  • Set up notebooks for each course or class and put your lesson plans in as notes
  • If you have small classes, use Evernote to jot down assessments and notes about your students. This is a quick and easy way to organize your thoughts about their individual learning and participation.

• For Research: use the Web Clipper to send articles and websites to your notebook quickly and easily. This is more effective than copying them into a Word document and the list is immediately available on all of your devices

• For Staff: use Evernote to organize your thoughts around your different projects. At your meetings type notes directly into Evernote and you will always be able to search and reference back to them

As Evernote continues to grow and evolve, people figure out new and exciting ways to use it. The Evernote website shares innovative ways to use it. You can also sign up for a mailing list where they regularly share ideas. Here is a blog that gives Tips on how to use Evernote: http://evernote.tumblr.com/ 

If you still aren’t sure if this would be useful for you, download Evernote and try it out for a few days. You will be surprised at how easily it fits into your life!