A New Way to Write Notes

It is unbelievable just how quickly things can change in this world -- especially within education.  I remember being ia freshman in high school, with a 15-page term paper due at the end of the semester.  Students throughout my entire high school dreaded that term paper.  If you were to ask anyone from my hometown about their freshman term paper, they would cringe.  My teacher required that we complete all the steps that go into a typical research paper.  That wasn't the most horrible part of the term paper by any means.  In fact, it actually prepared me for classes that I took later in high school and college.  The aspect that students dreaded was the note-taking.  We were required to fill out, by hand, 75 notecards (or more!) with information from our sources.  It was absolutely horrendous.

While my freshmen students, I have a specific unit in which they are supposed to write a research paper.  The unit is designed to introduce them to all the tools and techniques that they may come across in future courses.  Due to this fact, I require that they fill out notecards for each one of their sources.  However, the notecards that they will fill out are to be creating using a website called Noodletools.  This is a website that my Composition I professor introduced me to, and it is a lifesaver!  It is an amazing and extremely SIMPLE way to create some of the most common things that students may come across in a later course: a works cited and notecards. 

Most students do not remember how to create a correct works cited and must reference MLA or APA books constantly.  We are in the technology age, people!  In a few years, the internet will be the only reference source left for students to use.  Let's prepare them now with the resources available to them.  Think about incorporating Noodletools into your classroom.  I guarantee that you won't hear nearly as many complaints.

Below are two videos about how to work Noodletools.  Enjoy!








Image used with permission from iCLIPART (permission within the terms of use).

Education and Technology

This blog will be used to share my ideas about using technology in the classroom.  As a digital native, I am in love with the use of technology.  It makes things so simple.  Some technology is great for use in the classroom, but is all?  That's what I'll be talking about.