Friday, July 27, 2012

Organizing a busy life

Coincidentally, I was already using Dropbox, Skype, and Evernote. But I found the class was a great reminder of how we overlook or forget features of applications after we have fallen into habits of use, and how it is good to discuss with others how they are using these information organization apps.

I was new to Diigo, and am looking forward to trying its collaboration features. The document annotation features are reminiscent of what's available in Word or Preview/Acrobat.

I think this highlights some major changes in how we access data in the next couple of years. Local storage will become just a cache to allow you to continue to work offline as everything becomes cloud-based. You won't turn in Word docs in the MAC program in a couple of years. Rather, you will post a URI. That in turn tells me that the notion of hierarchical storage in directories will go away, as hierarchies just junk up the URI, and nobody can agree on a good hierarchy. This was already happening on the Mac, as I can find my annotated MAC benchmarks much faster using Spotlight versus navigating a hierarchy. And since we will be looking at cloud documents anyway, we will shift away from documents that look like books reproduced on a screen, and become more like web pages. Hence, Diigo for annotating that web page you'll be turning in for your final "paper."

5 comments:

  1. Agree that this shows us that we are turning a corner in how we use technology in learning environments. We hope that some alums will be able to join us again in the fall to talk about how they use Google Docs & Google Voice -- basically, all of the work is "turned in" by inviting the teacher to share the Google Doc. They tell a very compelling tale!

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  2. I also really appreciated learning about Diigo. As a Dropbox user, I had always viewed such programs as mainly for utilitarian purposes...storage and data sharing. However, I was quite impressed with the organizational features of both Diigo and Evernote as well as the advantages they offer for collecting and integrating a wide range of digital resources.

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  3. As I stated in my blog, other than Skype, it's all new to me. i understand the usefulness of these "applications" (? - what are they?), but haven't developed a need, yet. I think Kristin's suggestion of inviting a teacher to share his/her use of these "things" would help me better understand their potential for me.

    And Pete, I don't know how to join your group. I'm a part of this this "Down w/Diigo" group that was created by Ryan, but I don't know if that is going anywhere.

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  4. I was really intrigued by Evernote. I started using it a long time ago but couldn't find the time to really integrate it into my life. I want to start using Evernote; I feel it can almost be an all purpose tool. I never thought about document submission being more cloud based. However, after hearing it, it definitely seems probable. I too, love spotlight! It makes it so much easier to find things if I can't remember where I saved it. I just have to know the title.

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  5. Lucky you, having a basis in some of this new technology! I also admire your openness to change. Instead of thinking about all the time it will take to learn something new or stubbornly saying your current methods are more than adequate, you notice how the new technologies build on smaller changes you have already been embracing or looking forward to. Maybe you can rub some of that positive energy off on me :).
    I am also looking forward to exploring the features of Diigo (well when I have finished all these papers and blog posts for summer term!). I think the collaboration tools and ability to annotate web pages are awesome! Maybe I will be able to kick my printing habit now that I can annotate web pages without copy and pasting to a word document (where there is the extra headache of the formatting getting screwy).

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