RAPPORT
WWW.RECORDINGACHIEVEMENT.AC.UK
Issue 2 (2015)
possible for the group to meet together. These
drop-in sessions were not mandatory but allowed
students the opportunity, if required, to discuss
and share good practice using Evernote. Over the
period, attendance normally consisted of half of
the group. This helped the group as a whole to
develop skills and expertise in using Evernote. At
the end of the 6-month study period, all
participants had developed an Evernote Portfolio
of learning resources in multiple formats along
with their own personal notes.
Evaluation of Impact
Guidance from Chicago State University (2015)
states that ‘discussion allows students to engage
in the process of discovery, critique and
application’, and the students themselves to direct
the discussion, to be involved and engaged by
being at the heart of the discussions. The
students were invited to discuss their experience
of using Evernote within their learning
environment. The discussion was student-led,
with the LI team member asking the students
initially about their experience of using Evernote
as the starting point. The LI team member was
conscious not to guide the discussion and
accepted all the feedback provided. All five were
positive about their experiences. Students
reported that they had been initially unsure of the
functionality of Evernote:
“In the beginning my Evernote was very sparse as
I was struggling to work out how to use it but after
the initial support to use Evernote I found a good
purpose for it.”
The initial showcase event had been essential to
explain what Evernote was, how it could be used
and this built confidence that they could use it
effectively and to their advantage. Two of the
students stated that:
themselves was considered highly beneficial to
organizing their studies. This was the feedback
from two of the students:
“As a piece of software Evernote has been very
useful in my educational and professional life. I
have used Evernote constantly and would
recommend it to many people. With a greater
uptake comes a greater benefit”....“I rate this a
very good app and I am happy that I have been
introduced to this as it’s a helpful app and you are
able to use it anywhere you go at home or on the
move like I have been doing. If you wanted to
show someone something, you can share your
things with friends”.
Most participants had shared aspects of their
portfolios with their tutors and considered this a
positive aspect (particularly as tutors did not need
an Evernote account to view their content).
Sharing with peers was not considered a high
priority as:
“the main problem with its use is other people not
adopting it and thus this takes away one of the
main benefits of Evernote. People remain stuck in
their ways”.
Very few and only minor technical difficulties were
reported. These related mainly to internet
connectivity but to some extent, they were offset
by the ability to use Evernote offline:
“a lack of wi-fi limited my ability to use Evernote
before I realized I could carry on using it offline”.
“I use Evernote for my exam which I have found
has helped me; I have been able to look up for
more information on my home laptop and save it
to Evernote. I have access to it on my phone whilst
travelling which saves me having a big folder on
me to go to university with again as I travel a lot
to and back from university”...“In general I have
found Evernote easy to use, share my content and
visualise my research and work.”
Overall, the participants in the study were very
positive about their experience of using Evernote
and had become accomplished users of the
technology a nd many of the available add-ins
such as the Evernote Web Clipper and Evernote
Clearly. The add-ins extend the use of Evernote
from the original application by providing a
number of tools to enhance the experience.
Evidence that the technology was effective, and
that participants had gained confidence with
Evernote is supported by continued use after
graduation. The study participants have also
recommended using Evernote to their peers,
explaining its versatility and usefulness for all
types of different situations.
The ability to use a variety of mobile devices to
collect and synchronize information into one
location was reported as the most beneficial
aspect of using Evernote. Students valued the
opportunity to include resources of interest to their
studies away from a traditional computer. Bringing
together resources from Moodle relating to a
particular lecture and being able to associate
these with relevant web sites, academic papers or
other resources that they had discovered
Conclusions
A number of recommendations for the
implementation of Evernote have arisen from this
study:
1. Making Evernote an essential application
to
download
for
students
and
recommending Evernote to all students as
a core application to use whilst at
University would assist in highlighting the
advantages of using Evernote as part of
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