Productivity Tools I

We all want our work life to be as productive as possible. We will introduce a few of our favorite applications that make ours lives more productive. Give one a try by integrating it into your work flow.

 Evernote

Our first recommendation is to use Evernote. This product has been around for a while now so it is not going anywhere. Evernote is just that….you can use it to take every type of note. It runs on all major platforms and is web based too. In Evernote you can create notebooks and notes with pictures, text, or audio. It will recognize text in your pictures and that becomes searchable. You can tag your notes as well. Evernote is great to keep meeting notes, purchase ideas, research notes and anything you can think of. The free version suits most. There are also companion products that are extremely useful.

To get started with Evernote, Check out this great tutorial. For further more in depth training, go to

There are a couple of options for getting web content into Evernote.

1. You can use the Evernote Web-clipper tool for Chrome. It can be found here.
2. You can email material to Evernote.

Emailing items to Evernote:

Click on your userid and then click on Account Settings.

 Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud based storage solution. It is useful because it is cross platform. You can access your content from anywhere and on any device. You can share folders with multiple people. It is secure and reliable. You can set up a basic free account then add space by getting others to use Dropbox. Education accounts get more space.

 Take a tour!

  QR Codes

QR codes are symbols that can be read by your smartphone or iPad. The codes may be linked to contact information, links to websites, videos or documents. There are many great uses of QR codes in Higher Education.

Ideas for using QR codes in higher education:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/QR-codes-teaching-andrew-miller

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/04/qr-codes-explained-and-ideas-for.html#.UqUu8_RDvjs

http://connectlearningtoday.com/exploring-the-educational-potential-of-qr-codes-3/

http://www.teachthought.com/technology/your-quick-guide-to-using-qr-codes-in-education/

http://notes.ensemblevideo.com/qr-codes-in-education/

QR code generators – 2 sites:

Google URL Shortener that also generates a QR code for the URL.  http://goo.gl/

QR Code Generator https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/

Pinterest is a social bookmarking site that is very graphical. People pin articles, pictures and videos from the web to boards that they create. You can collaborate on boards and follow boards. You can also follow people that have similar interests. In the classroom students can create course boards or project boards. Instructors can create topic boards. Create an account and begin by searching for topics that are of interest. Then you will find people that you enjoy in those areas to follow. Pretty soon you will be browsing through materials that are of interest to you.

Our Pinterest Account: http://www.pinterest.com/miamielearning

Atomic Learning links. (login with your Miami credentials)

• Pinterest Training
• • A. Overview
  • • Introducing Pinterest

Pinterest has a board to teach you how to use Pinterest in education.

http://www.pinterest.com/twahlert/using-pinterest-in-education/

So take advantage of one of these great apps to make you a little more

productive!