beccablog, teacher-librarian

Google Notebook – saw this on the Google Librarian blog and tried it already.  Has some good things

a.  immediacy to taking notes 
b.  every student loves google –  so why not find some good things with it  
c.  accessible anytime, anywhere 
d.  never have to leave your browser to create notes 
e.  ability to link back to the site within your notes Could be better: 
a. right now, you have to download to get the notebook to pop up when you are on a site – that could be troublesome with student logon access 
b. easy way to copy/paste 
c.  difficulty organizing information 
d.  could it cite the page too or link back to the source list in some way?  Questions:1.  How do we make it more than a copy/paste tool?  Or is the world all about copy/paste?  Should I be okay with copy/paste? 2.  Going along with question #1 – how do we use this tool to help students think before they copy/paste?  Example: Student 1 finds a source on the computer.Skims the article – highlights, copy.Goes into the document, right click, paste part of the article.Has the student really read and understood the information?  Once the student compiles the list of copy/paste information – where does it go?   

I understand the need to copy/paste when information overload exists – ideally, the students would read through copy/paste notes and then organize, make sense of information by rewording, restructuring information.  My concern has been validated as I see students then dropping the same copy/paste words into a Powerpoint or paper without thought.  Right now, I use note cards with PowerPoint - it allows them to color-code and rearrange the cards.  In addition, I am able to set up a template with information needed – source, page  number,  etc.   But now I am thinking - this could be too “old school” – out of date.  Google Notebook has possibilities if I could somehow combine the ideas…

Google Notebook could be a great possibility.