Thing #11: Web 2.0 Tools

     I chose to explore the Evernote tool.  I've heard the name before and knew of its general use for note taking but knew little more than that.  After playing around with it, although I understand the basic value of such a note taking tool, I still don't really understand what makes this note taking different than any other note taking tool. I do like the fact that it constantly saves and logs date and time of notes taken automatically so that you don't stand the risk of accidentally losing unsaved notes (which has happened to me before!!! Definitely frustrating!!!)   I also liked how easy it was to transition to new notes just by the click of the mouse.  The screen set-up, initially, was confusing to me.  I did not readily recognize the fact that the middle column was the "running" saved history of your notes taken until I had taken several different notes and noticed those same notes in that column. Being that I can gain access to my notes from anywhere because of the use of the cloud, it expands your options and versatility because of the fact can check your notes from your Smartphone or from a tablet or laptop.
   This tool can be very useful in the classroom when taking important notes from a lecture or special instructions from a teacher.  Students could also use this in recording data notes from group projects that will need to be accessed at a later date.  In terms of benefits to the teacher, I think being able to organize all of your notes in one place helps save time and energy when retrieving information is necessary.

     For my second tool exploration, I experimented with Goanimate.com.  This was a fun and cool tool where one can create an animated story using the site's characters and backgrounds.  It took a while for me to figure out how to even start the creative and development process and by viewing my short little animated video, it's quite obvious that I will need much more time to reach suitable video creation proficiency status!!! I tried to embed the video but not sure if it worked or not...

<a href="http://goanimate.com/videos/0yCUGI-vAs40?utm_source=embed&uid=0JpogLm1vERs" target="_blank">What Happened to My Jacket?</a> by <a href="http://goanimate.com/user/0JpogLm1vERs"


...or the URL is: http://goanimate.com/videos/0yCUGI-vAs40?utm_source=linkshare