Boogie Board Sync 9.7 eWriter #EdTechChat #EdChat

Note: Improv Electronics sent me this Boogie Board Sync for the purpose of a review.

Here is the new Boogie Board Sync and I have to say, it looks beautiful. It is sleek and easy to hold. Very lightweight and simple to use. Watch this video that will explain the ins and outs of the new Boogie Board Sync.

The idea behind the new Sync is very simple. It will help eliminate the need for paper in a variety of ways. For the person that loves to just sit and sketch out ideas and doodle their thoughts, the Sync is the perfect tool for you. All of your ideas can be saved and shared directly into the cloud. As a big time Evernote user, I love the Sync because all of my brainstorm sessions can be jotted down, synced to my phone, and shared to Evernote when I'm ready. I can also share my ideas through other social media outlets if I choose. I love that flexibility in my tech tools. More and more companies are starting to catch on that users want to create AND share their ideas easily. The Boogie Board Sync 9.7 allows me do to that. 

I tweeted out one of my notes yesterday from the Boogie Board Sync and it was very simple. I just wrote a few notes and sent it out through my Twitter account. I can now send my friends hand written notes through Twitter. That is pretty neat. 

The one feature I absolutely love is the live drawing feature. My handwriting will appear on my iOS device while I write on the tablet. What I love most about this is that it could be wonderful in the classroom. Imagine connecting the iOS device to an Apple TV and projector. Everything I write can be shown to the class, saved on the device, and later uploaded to Evernote for students who might have missed class. The tablet could easily be passed to other students so they can share their ideas as well. I could see that as being a huge deal in a Math or Science class. 

The Boogie Board Sync will run you $99.99 on Amazon right now. I think this is a fair price for all of the things it can do for a teacher in the classroom and with students. 

Even though I'm a tech guy and I love to type away on devices, I still do tons of planning on paper, but now I do not have to do that and that makes my planning much simpler and less wasteful. I recommend giving the Boogie Board Sync a look if you are trying to find a solution to your note taking problems. A Boogie Board Sync with a free Evernote account can really help you get organized.

If you want to start your Evernote journey now, follow this link to sign up!

Nick

The @Boogie_Board and the Epic @EvernoteSchools Experiment #EdChat

I am happy to announce that ImprovElectronics is now part of the Epic Evernote Experiment. The Original 8.5" Boogie Board and Boogie Board Rip are going to be exciting additions to the Experiment. I first heard about the Boogie Board at the Evernote workshop at ISTE this past summer and was very interested in what it could do for me as a teacher and my students. I was very impressed with the presentation I saw in the exhibit hall and knew I had to try one of these out.

The thing that really caught my attention with the Boogie Board Rip was the compatibility with Evernote. The ability to take handwritten notes and add them to notebooks with tags is a great feature. It really takes the Boogie Board to a whole new level. Here is one example of a handwritten note I created.

Despite my love for all things tech, I do find myself doing initial brainstorming on paper. I use post-its, computer paper or anything else I can get my hands on. Most of my initial brainstorming takes place on paper. I really wanted to find something that could replace that, but nothing really worked for me. The stacks of brainstorming paper would just be a hassel to keep track of during the planning phase. The Boogie Board Rip is a great tool to replace all of the different scraps of paper. I can do all of my planning and then save it to Evernote when I'm done. That is an awesome time saving addition to my job. 

I can also see students really using the Rip for their school needs. I can see students really utilizing this during the brainstorming phase of their essay writing and project planning. This lightweight and easy to carry device can really save students lots of time and energy in the note-taking world.

The 8.5" Boogie Board is a nice tablet for students and teachers looking for a tablet to jot down ideas or think out problems. 

I'm a fan of this little guy. Too many times, I've seen students tear paper out to just write a few ideas down and then discard. This tablet can allow students to do that and nto waste any paper. Working out math problems can be done without the constant use of different sheets of paper. Some students need the practice of doing various problems over and over again, and this tablet allows students to do that without the waste. 

I can also see these being used for projects or class games where students can write their answers down and share with the class. These tablets can be used in many different creative ways. I can't wait to see what my students and other teachers can come up with when I get these in their hands. 

As of August 1, the Rip is now $99.99! An even better deal!

I'm really excited to have the Boogie Boards as part of the Experiment and I can't wait to share the awesome experiences with them in my classroom. 

The Epic @Evernote Experiment #edchat @EvernoteSchools

Hello everyone! I've had plenty of requests to write about what I'm doing and I wanted to wait until I was all set before I wrote a post.

This Fall, I will be doing an Epic Evernote Experiment. I know that I have used the word Epic to describe my previous project (The Epic Romeo and Juliet Project), but this Experiment is truly Epic and I'm a sucker for alliterations.

My plan is pretty simple, use Evernote to share all of my class notes and reading with the students. All assignments will be shared through Evernote as well as any additional resources that I use in class. Seems pretty straight forward.

I have spend the past few days compiling all of the resources I have used in my class for my Honors American Literature, Traditional American Literature and Freshmen English. I have created notes, notebooks and tags for each piece. Units were cross-referenced using tags and the title of the note so students can quickly find what they are looking for on Evernote.

I created four Notebooks for each class; Assignments, Notes, Handouts and Stories. These are the four standard notebooks that will be shared with each student when they arrive to class in the Fall. They will have access to all of their textbook needs on Evernote wherever they are. All additional notes will be placed in the Notebooks as the school year progresses.

In the Notes Notebook, I have placed background information on authors and historical information centering around the various texts and stories we will be reading making sure to use the tagging feature to allows students to pull the information up quickly. I also created notes that have YouTube video read ins of some of the stories. I have created a complete digital backpack for my students. They will have everything they need for the entire year on the first day of school.

This process was a long and tedious one, but I have these notes FOREVER. I was able to upload PDFs and us the Evernote Clipper tool on Google Chrome to quickly and easily create notes and store them in the correct Notebook with the specific tags I needed. This really is a game changer for how my students will be able to access information inside AND outside of the classroom.

This would be an awesome experiment, but it's not quite epic. With that in mind, I have added another level to bring it to epic proportions. E-portfolios. I'm looking for my students to use Evernote Notebooks to store their written work and projects. With the ability to take photos and record audio I envision students being able to take pictures and store their thoughts on various work throughout the year. Long term, this could be great if an entire school district got on board and students from a young age could curate all of their work over the course of their school career. Imagine a 12 Grade student being able to review their writing from 5th grade. I can't think of a better way for an individual to measure growth. I wish I could see my work from grade school.

I'm excited to be working with some other companies who partner with Evernote and want to help with this Experiment. IPEVO is sending over a document camera that, later this summer, will allow images to be directly sent to Evernote. I'm really excited for the chance to look at this document camera. I have heard nothing but good things and I'm always pumped to offer more tools to my students. I envision many of my artistic students using the Document Camera to record their hand drawn work at home and storing it on their Evernote accounts. Their are many different possibilities.

I'm talking with other groups that are interested in being part of the Epic Evernote Experiment. If you are a company and want to join the fun, please send me an email at OneNerdyTeacher@gmail.com and I will get back to you right away. If you know of a product that would fit in well with my Experiment, please let me know and I will reach out to them. Any new products will be mentioned on my blog as they come in and I look them over.

I'm really excited about the possibilities of creating this environment for my students. Follow the journey on the special page I created. The Epic Evernote Experiment

If you want to start your Evernote journey now, follow this link to sign up!

That's it for now, stay tuned for more fun in the near future.