Saturday, January 10, 2009

NoteShare Express

NoteShare from AquaMinds is a staple on the MLTI laptops here in Maine. Every educator 7-12 has the app on their laptops . . . and every 7-8 student in Maine as well. The notebook metaphor it uses makes that connection with past technologies which helps many to easily move on to the new powerful digital functionalities. NoteShare is one of those applications which allows new learners to use it quickly initially while at the same time having many additional powerful features under the hood for those wishing to explore further. (More Info)

For example, it allows created notebooks to be shared in many different ways. Notebooks can be shared and edited easily between teachers and students on their local networks as well as world-wide through IP addresses. Notebooks can also be published with a single click as an html document for the web. In addition, notebooks can be stored on a server for access. (More Info)

The one drawback had been that only people with Macs that had the NoteShare application could edit the documents. No more. Now we have NoteShare Express which opens up editing capabilities to anyone anywhere through a simple web browser . . . just about any web browser. This new feature can be experienced at the ACTEM server. Simply go to this address and use "actem" as a password. Choose the MaineEd category and then pick Demo_Playground to go to the sandbox. Feel free to mess around there, trying out this wonderful new feature. Add a new section, page or entry. Add and move text. Upload images and links. Discover the possibilities. (More Info)

Maine's educational technology association, ACTEM, is probably the best place for Maine schools and educators to go to acquire the necessary software to implement these enhanced capabilities. Craig Dickinson is the fine gentleman who will help you there.

Crystal Priest, president of ACTEM and keeper of the ACTEM NoteShare server, among her many, many other duties (where does she find the time?) is the resident expert on NoteShare servers and Noteshare Express. She can also point you in the right direction to individual school systems in Maine that have set up their own servers.

Scott Love, AquaMinds CEO, is unique, in my experience, in his approach to customer service. He works directly with his customers and users, always going that extra mile to answer questions, troubleshoot, and constantly improved his product based on user needs and requests. He listens and follows up. See AquaMinds Weblog. (Where does he find the time?)

Barbara Greenstone and Phil Brookhouse, statewide MLTI mentors, as well as many others throughout the State, provide excellent training in making the best use of NoteShare, focusing on student and teacher needs. Check out some of their own notebooks (toward the bottom of the sidebar list, password: "actem") at the ACTEM server.

What else should we know about NoteShare?

Earlier NoteShare Posts
NoteShare Resources at LIM Resources Wiki

1 comment:

SJ said...

Thanks for the info! I never knew that NoteShare only worked in a Mac world. Guess if you only live in a Mac world you forget what goes on outside of it.