HOW TO: complete forms, tests, etc.

[MrsB 2]

I want to create a course notebook in which I put worksheets, quizzes, charts, etc.

I want each student to be able to go into that shared NB, find the assignment, fill in the blanks, then save it in their course notebook where I can then find and mark it. . . and also comment on it/show marks, etc.

I can't seem to figure out the format/type of document the kids can download, complete and save.

I'm sure this is very easy, but I can't seem to find it and can't make it work (I created a chart in pages - exported as a word doc - saved to EN course NB; I can then find it in the NB but cannot enter any info onto it). I want to adminster tests/quizzes/goal sheets this way in the fall.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[jbenson2 2,147]

I'm sure this is very easy,

I don't think so.

Real time collaboration and editing of a shared notebook is not Evernote's strong suit.

[MrsB 2]

Is this difficult, or impossible?

I was hoping to present ENote in September as a digital notebook/file and a way to communicate with students.

[jbenson2 2,147]

From what I have read by other users, Evernote is not ready for prime time when it comes to collaboration. Especially if it involves editing in both directions on a real time basis.

Try searching for collaboration in the Evernote forum. The results do not indicate much success at this point in time. A lot of gnashing of knuckles.

Hopefully some other users in the education arena will voice their comments.

Some additional info might be helpful in understanding your use.

For instance,

• Are you dealing with 30 students?
  
• Do they all have their own computers?
  
• Do they all have a premium subscription in Evernote (to edit your notes)?
  

[MrsB 2]

Reaver (and whomever else) -

If I upgrade to a Premium acct, will this be possible? From the site EN prem info: "Share your notebooks and allow others to edit them."

It does not state the "others" need to also be premies. It implies that if I go prem and share a notebook with my class (others), they will be able to edit the notes.

I'm hoping they could even perhaps copy my note to their notebook, then edit?

If this is possible, this will work.

I cannot afford to pay for EN prem for each of my students out of my pocket.

I'd prefer to introduce my classes to EN, but, if this doesn't work there's always Google Docs (ugh).

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I want to create a course notebook in which I put worksheets, quizzes, charts, etc.

I want each student to be able to go into that shared NB, find the assignment, fill in the blanks, then save it in their course notebook where I can then find and mark it. . . and also comment on it/show marks, etc.

I can't seem to figure out the format/type of document the kids can download, complete and save.

I'm sure this is very easy, but I can't seem to find it and can't make it work (I created a chart in pages - exported as a word doc - saved to EN course NB; I can then find it in the NB but cannot enter any info onto it). I want to adminster tests/quizzes/goal sheets this way in the fall.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello. I beg to differ with jbenson. I think Evernote would be ideal for the scenario you described. I think jbenson is thinking about a level of collaboration that is much more intense. One thing to think about, though, is that in a business context, you might have one shared notebook for collaboration, but in an educational one, you have grades and comments that you want to keep private, so you have to think a little bit more about reducing complexity.

I'd be happy to test it together with you if you'd like. Contact me directly and we can share notebooks to work this out. As I see it, there are several options with their own pros and cons. I will suggest the one that I would use. It requires very little work on anyone's part, and needs only one Premium account.

You share a notebook with each student, giving them read/write privileges. You create a test note. You place a copy of that note into each notebook (yes, this is a little laborious with 30 students). The students will be alerted that there is a note, they go to the shared notebook, they make changes, and I think you will be alerted that changes have been made (I have not tested this myself). You make comments on the tests, and the students are alerted about the changes.

Easy, right? An alternative method that introduces a little more complexity is to gather all of the Evernote emails (automatically assigned) and you email the test notes directly into their Evernote accounts. You can even specify the notebook where you want it to go. The students email you back, and I think they can do the same thing, but this time, the notes would be sent directly into those shared notebooks. The benefit of this is that you don't have to make a bunch of copies in every notebook (one action for you, and one action for the students). And, you dont need to give them write privileges in the shared notebooks -- you write the comments, and they get alerted, but they don't have the ability to go in and mess around with the notes. This gives you a little more control.

Personally, I would do something a little different. I would ask the students to make a class notebook in their account (it has to be exactly the same, so I would have them call it grumpymonkey). I would send the notes directly into this notebook in the student's accounts, I would have them send the notes directly into my own grumpymonkey notebook as well (they don't have access to it) when they completed them, but in the final sharing of comments step, I would send the note with comments directly back into their accounts. This would automatically populate that notebook with the assignment/test followed by the graded/commented version. It is much simpler, in my opinion, than a shared notebook system would be, but this is because of unique constraints in the educational environment (the need for privacy). Share notebooks, of course, would be wonderful for collaborative projects among students.

So, these are just some ideas. I have not tried them in my classes yet, but I probably will do something similar in the future. You might want to check out this blog (http://blog.evernote...emy-deployment/) and the Evernote educational pricing deal (http://evernote.com/...s/education.php). The teachers at that institution might be able to offer real world experience.

[jbenson2 2,147]

Thanks for stepping in Grumpymonkey. I was hoping someone else in the same industry could comment.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Thanks for stepping in Grumpymonkey. I was hoping someone else in the same industry could comment.

No worries. Glad I could help out, even if these are only ideas, and I haven't actually been able to implement them myself. I have been looking forward to trying some of these out in a classroom environment, but various factors beyond my control made it difficult in the last term. Hopefully, I will get an opportunity soon to give them a test run.

[MrsB 2]

Many thanks, GrumpyMonkey . . . (can I call you Grumpy for short? or GM?)

Thanks for the link to MC in NJ. I've looked at their info. They went with a prem acct for everyone in the school, so yes, they can collaborate easily. I won't be able to do that as I don't have a cajillion dolla. (Lessee...prem at 50% discount = $22.50/kid x say, 400 kids = what? $9000 bucks? ya, right...)

I won't be using EN for tests, assignments, etc. I'll be using Schoology for that and for direct communication with individual students.

I'm attempting to determine if I alone go prem, can students then edit those docs (assignments), given this statement from the EN site prem info: "Share your notebooks and allow others to edit them." or if it is implied that the students too need to go prem (wording is unclear).

I'm hoping someone from EN might drop by to help.

Do you know how to raise someone that might know?

And along these lines . . . it seems to me EN would stand to profit in the long run by offering prem to students for free. Kids would love it, making EN their home for everything, and once they graduate, EN would have a prem convert for life. Another reason to hopefully hear from someone from EN!

Thanks Grumpy . . . or GM . . . or GrumpyMonkey.

MrsB

[MrsB 2]

I've submitted a support ticket to hopefully clarify things.

Will let you/all know (for future thread visitors).

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I've submitted a support ticket to hopefully clarify things.

Will let you/all know (for future thread visitors).

GM would be fine

Let us know what you hear!

[MrsB 2]

Once you have upgraded your account to Premium you will be able to grant permission to others to edit a shared notebook even if they have a free account.

Thank you.

Jack

Evernote Support

YAY!!!!!!! :0)

[jbenson2 2,147]

There is a discussion going on at the Evernote forum message (link below) regarding some of collaborative issues.

[twatters 2]

I may be late to the discussion but here is my experience with this topic...

I'm a high school science teacher and use Evernote as much as I can.

With the teacher having a premium account here is what can be done:

1. Set up a shared notebook as view only to store class documents and give students/parents the link to the notebook. Our school district is very restrictive about giving public access to post ​so this must be view-able only by students and parents. This is like having a webpage. When I did this last year I discovered some problems, however. You need to maintain a "Table of Contents" or "Index" note pinned to the top of the list with links to your notes or documents. Expecting students and parents to search for documents was unrealistic.

2. Then you need to get each student to set up a free Evernote account.

3. Then you need to set up a shared notebook for EACH of your students with read/write permission. I had 125 students last year and this was not a trivial task. Notes/files put into this shared notebook are view-able and editable by you and that one student This is where you share private documents. (You must check with your district's policies regarding sharing private sites with students! It may be necessary/prudent to include an administrator and parent on the shared with list and ask them to monitor the postings.)

A few problems:

1. Evernote does not notify you when a notebook is updated. You have to go through each (all 125) notebook and look for new notes/documents. Not practical! You can save a search that looks for changes within the last day or so but it's still possible to miss an assignment submitted by a student.

2. An alternative was to have students email to a notebook set up for collecting assignments. I would email back the graded assignment but there was no advantage to simply emailing me assignments to my regular school email.

I abandoned the system because it felt like I was trying to squeeze a square peg through a round hole. I still encourage students to use Evernote and still post class documents in a shared (view only) folder, I mean notebook. However I use GoogleDocs as my primary collaboration tool.

I use Google Forms where students can post links to their documents. I get everthing on one spreadsheet and commenting/annotating on their docs is simple.

Evernote is a great tool and I see they're promoting it for schools. However, I found too many obstacles. It works, just not smoothly.

Tim Watters

[MrsB 2]

Never too late. Thanks, Tim.

Yes - not operable in the way I was conceiving, and the way(s) we need for education.

I will be using Schoology for these functions as you outline in your comment (it's like Edmodo but better, imho) and having students use EN as their notebook (getting them away from paper).

Many thanks for your advice.

I was hoping EN could be my go-to, but it can't.