Dropbox and Evernote...What is the difference?

I get asked these questions a lot

1. What is the difference between Dropbox and Evernote?
2. Do I need both or could I just use one?
3. I hear they are good but I don't see how they could be useful to me. What can I do with them?

Dropbox (Free for iPad; Free for iPhone/iPod Touch)
2 Gig is free
Stores all types of files
Downloads an application to your computer that will appear as a main folder in your hardrive. You can save files from your computer directly to Dropbox.
Many apps will save to Dropbox. Use Dropbox to share photos from your computer to your iPad. If you have the latest version of Inspiration you can create maps and save to Dropbox which will allow you to open them in Inspiration Maps on the iPad.

Evernote (Free for iPad; Free for iPhone/iPod Touch)
Upload up to 60mb per month
Stores most files.
Downloads an application to your computer and to your devices. Save/Share/Send most files on your iPad. Download website links and pages.







What is the difference between Dropbox and Evernote?
They are both places that you can store files but each app does something special. Dropbox is like another 'Documents' folder that you can see on your hardrive but it is actually saved online. If you have all your files saved in Dropbox and you lose your computer tomorrow,  you wouldn't have a problem as you can get them back by logging on to https://www.dropbox.com/ 

Ways that I use Dropbox:

• all my documents are stored there
• when I want to add photos from my laptop to the iPad, I can add them to Dropbox
• create Inspiration activities on my computer and then upload to Dropbox to access from iPad
• download a file on somebody else's computer, log into https://www.dropbox.com/ 

Ways that I use Evernote:

Evernote is more visual, you can see what the content is of most files. You can add notes or voice comments. You can add tags to files so that they can grouped together.

• download Webpages to look at later
• download weblinks and make notes
• take photos of examples of student work and make notes and/or voice comments
• collect resources for topics
• share folders with other people

I also see Evernote as a great tool for students to share their learning. They can share their examples of work and then make a voice comment about how they feel about their work. Teachers can write comments or make voice comments as well. Students can take photos of non digital work they have done and make comments as well.

Observation 'The Gardens' 12 March 2013

Evernote and Edmodo are being used by some of the teachers in this school. Tracy in particular has lead the movement amongst the e-Learning teachers with Edmodo. Most of her Year 5/6 class are in their second year of e-Learning and it shows. The students are very quick and adept with the technology.

Jan's Year 5/6 class has some boys that are 'blossoming' using iPads. They are more focussed, on task, engaged and interested in what they are doing. She had no problems setting up her room this year and feels very comfortable with the way it works. I noticed that the students were using the whiteboards for their learning rather than the teacher.

Jan wanted her students to practise their handwriting with Drawing apps on the iPad. The students mostly chose Drawing Pad. I suggested using Notability with lines and also suggested that they record themselves in Screen Chomp writing the alphabet so that they could see what letters they are not forming correctly. Once they had their practice in Notability, they could save into a Handwriting folder, their best pieces of writing could be shared to Evernote.
The last 2 years the e-Learning teachers have been using Google Sites for their digital portfolios. They have decided it was too cumbersome so they are using Evernote which can be used both on computers and devices. Most creative apps will share to Evernote, so students can store best evidence of their progress in notebooks in Evernote. Work that has been hand done can be photographed and added as well. Students can also use the recording option to record their feelings about their work.

During reading time students were creating their graphics in Drawing Pad based on their reading book Sea Witch. Once they made the individual pictures they added them to Comic Life.


 


One of Tracey's students showed me how to install the Evernote clipper to Safari on the iPad

• Go to http://mergy.org/2012/05/use-the-evernote-clipper-with-safari-on-ipad-and-iphone/ this has the instructions for the following
• In another tab go to http://www.evernote.com and bookmark it, rename it 'Evernote Clipper'
• Go to this link http://mergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/iOSEvernoteWebClipper.txt copy the code, tap on Bookmarks and Edit, tap on Evernote Clipper, paste code
• From now on when you select Bookmark - Evernote Clipper,  a new window will open where you can choose notebooks and tags