http://notely.net is a site I explored some today. To quote from the site: "Notely is a collection of online tools designed to help all you crazy busy students out there to organize your hectic lives" (notely.net). The first thing I thought about were my poorly organized freshmen. If I had to give one main reason, other than lack of studying, that would explain why my D and F students are not performing well in English, it would be a lack of organization. Although I make a concerted attempt to help these 14 and 15 year olds get organized, it is often futile. Maybe, just maybe, if they could use a computer tool to help them be more organized, then perhaps I would see an improvement in grades. The students love anything computer-related. Notely.net is very simplistic and is even designed from a student's perspective to help students get organized (notely.net).
Some of the key features on this organizational site are a calendar, to-do list, task list, and a homework planner. There is also a note-taking feature, which was probably my favorite one. With it, a student can add links and images, as well as highlight and format to make their notes really stand out. Another feature that I believe high schoolers would utilize is the journal section. I think the teens would like writing down their thoughts, replacing the notes they like to pass in class. Another cool feature was the grades section. When students receive their papers or tests back, they can enter the assignment and its grade in Notely.
I believe students would benefit greatly from having a simple organizational tool at their disposal, only of the technological kind. With the computers I have available in my classroom, I could give students the last ten minutes of class each day to type in their homework and update their grade, calendar, or other sections. If that 10 minutes a day (out of 90) would help to improve students' overall productivity, then I feel that notely.net would be a great tool for my students.
This tool sounds truly like a great asset to have if you are a freshman and/or any other student for that matter. I have never personally heard of this tool, but now that I have I can foresee myself promoting it to my students and friends.
ReplyDeleteI pride myself on being very well organized, but like you said in your post, a lot of my friends, classmates, and students are not that inclined to being organized. I feel this tool that you found might just aid them in the hop of becoming organized.
Thank you for finding this and sharing it with us. What I liked most was the option of note taking as well as the student’s ability of logging in their scores on assignments.