Organize and Collaborate with Pearltrees

Recently my friend, Ms. Lyon, told me about an awesome app that she uses with her grade 7 language arts class.  I just got around to taking it for a test drive today and it is definitely worthy of sharing.

Pearltrees is both an iPad App and a web-based app that allows for organizing and accessing files from anywhere.   How is this different than tools such as Google Drive or Evernote?  Well, let me tell you what this App can do!

Like other free bookmarking or file sharing tools, Pearltrees can store many different file types, websites, photos, links, and notes.  Pearltrees also allows for sharing of topics, or "pearltrees" with specific users or groups of users.

What really sets Pearltrees apart is the visual layout.  Information is stored in a tree-like format, rather than lists, which makes it easy to categorize, sub-categorize, and follow.  Each node or "pearl" can be simply dragged with one finger to re-categorize it.

Another amazing feature of this App is the ability to add content in a huge variety of ways.  Unlike any other iPad App I've seen, Pearltrees comes with a "Pearler Tool".  The "Pearler Tool" allows me to tap the Safari bookmark from within any website to immediately and automatically add that site to my Pearltrees.    I can even specify which tree I want it added to.  If you've ever "pinned" something to Pinterest from a website, you know how slick this is.  Other ways to add content are from within the App, using the "Open In" from other apps, and emailing add@pearltrees.com

The ability to "Team Up" on a Pearltree is pretty neat too.  Teaming up allows more than one user, or a team of users to contribute to the same tree in real time.

I asked Ms. Lyon what the learning curve was for her students.  She said that it was less than 12 minutes to download the app, create an account, log in, and locate her resources.  Once the credentials are entered into the App, students area logged in forever, unless they manually log out.

I did not find much in the way of drawbacks.  It is not possible with a free account to create private workspaces.  So, that would preclude this from being storage for personal content.  The free App has a 1GB storage limit, but that is pretty generous since it is mostly comprised of links.   Private messaging is allowed between users without teacher moderation, if that is a concern for you or your students.

Overall, this App is free, fun, very easy to use, visually appealing, collaborative, and extremely useful.   Besides simply organizing files, links, and other media, it could be used for webquests, to distribute materials to students, group projects, assessment links (google forms), collecting resources for a project, sharing bookmarks for any reason, and more!

Here is a summarized list of what Pearltrees can do:

• Organize resources in a visually friendly way
• Easy drop and drag management of resources
• Multiple resource types - Links, emails, documents, websites, photos, notes
• Multiple simple ways to add content:
•  +Add from within the App
• "Pearler Tool" (strait from web)
• Email
• "Open in" from other iPad Apps, including Explain Everything, Pages, and Keynote
• Camera
• Camera Roll
• Follow or add other people's related Pearltrees to your own
• Team Up to work on a tree collaboratively

Check it out for Mac, for iPad or Book Me for a quick demo of how it works!

Three Tools for Digital Portfolio Creation on the iPad

I spend significant time finding ways and means to do the everyday things we've always done when the iPad is the only tool, as it is for our grade 6 through 12 students.  Recently, a few teachers have asked questions about digital portfolios, and similar projects for students.  So, I dug in and tried to exhaust the resources of three tools:  Evernote, Google Sites, and Blogger.  While Evernote is, by far, the richest in ease and options on the iPad, I guess that the best tool for the job depends on what the outcome goal is.  Hopefully, my evaluation below will be helpful.

Blogger 

Blogger Pros:  The Blogger app is simple to use.  The layout is attractive and chronological.  Login is simple since it is a Google product and we already have a login (our spsdme.org email).  It is easy to add photos and type directly into a post.  I like that I can post to my Blogger by emailing it.  Attaching a hand drawn sketch or any other attachment to the email will embed that media into my blog.

Blogger Cons:  I cannot post to Blogger from other apps on my iPad.  It is also not possible to paste in the blogger edit mode, so I can't paste a link to an external location or even text for that matter.  The only way I found to do that was to email the blog.  I was not able to change settings for the blog, such as sharing to Google+ or blog email address from within the app.  I had to go out to the web version to do that.  Using the app, it was not easy to add any media other than text and photo.


Google Site

Google Site Pros:  Google sites are accessible to anyone with a spsdme.org gmail account.  Using Google Chrome app to set up my site allowed me to use almost all the functions available in Google Sites.  The layout is very attractive, flexible, and customizable.  There are a lot of options for backgrounds, themes, layouts, and more.  I set up a test site with horizontal navigation tabs and categorized my pages by subject.  Gadgets seemed to work fine on the iPad.

Google Site Cons:  It is not possible to use the FileCabinet feature or upload files, other than photos.  I could create links, but I had to use the link button first, as opposed to selecting the text I wanted to link and then choosing the link button.  I was happy to find a work around.   No apps on the iPad will open in Google Sites (ie. from Pages or other, select "open in..."), so getting content from another app would involve posting to the web to obtain a URL or a copy/paste.


Evernote

Evernote Pros:  Evernote was an extremely flexible app.  I was able to quickly add text, photo, audio, a checklist, or photo from my camera.  Many other apps on the iPad allow for opening in Evernote, including Explain Everything, eBackpack, and Pages.   Evernote is organized by creating notebooks.  Additionally tags can be added to posts for easy searching.  Notebooks can be quickly shared with others.  The email feature is awesome!  I can email my Evernote account and by using the @ and # symbols in the subject of my email, my post automatically lands in the folder I want with the tags I want associated with it.    Cut/paste works in Evernote edit mode, so adding links is also quite easy.

Evernote Cons:  Layout is not particularly visually appealing, like Google Sites or Blogger.

Add a Super-Fast Entry to Your Google Calendar

In a hurry?  Do you need to add something to your Google calendar really fast?  Try this.  It is amazing!

1. Click the arrow next to the Create button in Google Calendar to Quick Add.
2. Type what you want to put on the calendar, just as you'd say it.    That's it!

Examples:

• Soccer tomorrow at 5pm
• Appointment Monday from 1-2pm
• Meeting at school with Robert Today at 12 for 15 minutes
• ACTEM Conference in Augusta 10/4-10/5

A few more tips:

• Quick Add defaults to 1 hour unless "until" is specified.
• If no date is added, the entry will go to the next possible date at the time specified, which may even be the same day.
• If no time is specified, Quick Add will assume an all day event.
• If your location contains a date, such as "TGI Friday's", use quotes around the location.