Exploration of Mobile Affordances-Evernote

For the past several years I have used Microsoft OneNote to save and manage emails for work purposes. This has worked well as a personal collation tool as it has allowed me to save important messages with all of the contact details of the message while being able to group related information into sections within notebooks. I only used the most basic function of this productivity tool, but it served my needs. As it is a Microsoft program, the integration with the other Microsoft programs that I use on a regular basis (Word/PowerPoint/Publisher/Outlook) enables the use of these document types within OneNote. The best advantage though for me has been being able to quickly save emails for later reference. OneNote also has very limited functionality on Apple and Android devices.
When exploring productivity functions on my mobile device, an Apple iPad, I chose Evernote, as I had it installed but hadn't taken the time to work out how best to use this program. As a tool that works relatively seamlessly across different platforms, it is an excellent tool for collecting, organising and interacting with documents, websites and notes that can be used for research, document planning and creation. Some functions only work to the full extent when being used on a computer, but the ability to use the same collection tool on different platforms, that allows for creative ways to create and annotate notes and always being able to access the same material by syncing Evernote, makes this a very powerful tool, even the free version.

Tangible learning benefits of mobile device in context

Feature/Benefit of mobile learning	Analysis of mobile device - selected function
Personal, private and familiar (reduce perceived barriers to learning)	Allows for personalisation of learning journey by capturing and organising a variety of content
Pervasive and ubiquitous	Compatible with a range of devices and easy interface with internet sites
Fit into the lives of learners (allow for productive ‘dead’ time - e.g. when travelling or queuing)	Anywhere, anytime learning on various mobile devices, ability to use voice recognition
Portable - allow anywhere, anytime learning	Access to notes, documents 'on the go' from computer or mobile devices when synced across all platforms
Immediacy of communication (including speech and data-sharing)	Notebooks can be shared for communication and collaboration
Allows access to learning by those in dispersed communities and isolated situations	Basic Evernote is free, compatible with PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices. Can be accessed offline or online. Some features only function with online access
Contextualisation through location-aware features such as GPS.	Use of geotagging to assist with searching and access of notes according to location
Allows data to be recorded and learning processes captured wherever they happen.	Notes can bet created, added to using a variety of modalities including text, audio, images as well as annotation of websites with live links
Access to mentors, tutors and others learners on-the-move.	Collaboration is possible by sharing notebooks and emailing directly to and from Evernote
Perceived as an acceptable way for learners to receive reminders and chasers - and to manage their time	Learners can set reminders for themselves. Assists with time management as research materials and document access can be located in one place
Bite-sized e-learning resources can be delivered to learners (especially useful for basic skills or work-based learning)	As the main purpose is note-taking and collation of resources, leathers can save a variety of learning material within Evernote with monthly storage capacity upto 60MB for the free version or 1GB for Premium subscription
Abstract (representational) and concrete (environmentally-situated) knowledge can be integrated.	Theoretical information can be accessed easily while the mobility of various devices makes it possible to access this information and apply it in real-life contexts
Peer-to-peer networks make learning more student-centred.	Shared notebooks enable peers to interact as long as a network connection is available
Promotes active learning	Notes can be created on the go so that learning is continually being enhanced
Enable new learning environments	Evernote allows links and connections to be recorded that can be integrated into other learning environments rather than actually creating these environments
Increases accessibility for learners with special educational needs	Ease of use with voice recognition software is one feature of this benefit
Encourages reflection in close proximity to the learning event	Notes can be typed or recorded orally at time of learning event. These notes can then be shared in various ways: email, sharing to other collaborative tools, elaborated on with web clipper allowing live websites to be accessed
Reduces technical barriers to e-learning	Ease of use (similar to actual notebook) and other digital features promotes use of Evernote as supporting digital tool

Wes Heberlein shared some excellent videos by Steve Dotto about Google Drive in his post during the previous semester. I was so impressed by Steve's insights into the benefits of this cloud based application that I watched some of his videos about the affordances of Evernote.

The main features of Evernote that make it a really powerful tool are:

• Free account with 60MB of free storage per month (1GB per month with paid subscription)
• Voice recognition to capture notes or memos with speech to text although a mobile connection is required for this feature to work
• Email documents directly to Evernote with an email address automatically linked to the account. This is useful for archiving emails, itineraries, bookings, documents adding tags for easy searching
• Document photo capture enable easy access to hard copies of documents, but especially useful for capturing hand written notes from meetings
• Web Clipper: clip part of or whole websites and saves directly into Evernote with live links, images and videos. Web pages can be annotated in Evernote. Video links open the website in a new browser page. The free web clipper tool only works on the computer program, but once saved in a notebook, all of the other features of this application work across all platforms
• Geotagging of notes to enable easy searching of notes by location and date

One feature that I had to find a work around for, was that when opening a Word document in Evernote on the iPad it isn't possible to edit this document (it can be edited when using the computer version). In order to be able edit documents on the iPad, it can be opened in QuickOffice, edited and then emailed back into Evernote.

Evernote provides an excellent way of collecting and organising notes and materials in a ubiquitous manner while keeping up with the changing demands of mobile learning.

Dotto, S. 2012. Dotto Demo-Introduction to evernote. Retrieved 17th July 2014 from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/an-introduction-to-evernote-video.html

Gralla, P. 2014. OneNote Vs Evernote: A personal take on two great note-taking apps. Retrieved 13th July 2014 from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9247097/OneNote_vs._Evernote_A_personal_take_on_two_great_note_taking_apps?taxonomyId=86&pageNumber=3