Activity 7.1 Reflection, Learning Technologies @ EIT

It  was disappointing that I couldn't attend the campus walkabout to learn more about the digital technologies being used by the music department @ EIT.  I missed out, having to attend another class.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to the blog and sharing your experiences so I could learn more about all the fun & interesting things you's did.

As I was absent, I will be sharing about a digital learning technology I am familiar with.  As part of the DLT progressive assignment we were given the opportunity to explore a Cloud tool so I have become familiar with Microsoft's tool OneNote. SWOT analysis applied to OneNote has revealed the following points:

SWOT Analysis on OneNote

Strengths

• Remote access
• Group collaboration tool
• Can create notebooks for different purposes
• Notebooks can be divided into different sections
• Add pages to sections
• Color coordination or color coded
• Add passwords to sections
• Sync to other devices
• Compatibility - can use on different platforms such as Apple & Android
• Free version available online
• Just like a notepad you are not limited to a specific area - you can write or draw anywhere.

Weaknesses

• Cannot add passwords to notebooks
• Can only add passwords to sections
• No option to filter tags so as it grows then harder to find content
• Need Internet to sync to other devices
• Need a Microsoft account
• No confirmation of save                                                                                                               

Opportunities

• Integrates well with other MS Office applications
• Access across different platforms
• Can use like a pin-board

Threats

• Need to have charged mobile devices
• Cloud Security

Considerations
I have liked using OneNote.  I have only been familiar with the group collaboration tools in Google drive so I was interested in trying something new.

I like that OneNote allows for the integration of different media within a notebook such as adding a word or excel document.  This is quite handy as everything can be found in one place within a notebook.

The tags just add a bit of flavor to make things a little more interesting but are not a necessity.  Tags feature is not offered in Google docs.

Foreseen problems and solutions maybe but are not limited to:

Problem: Currently there is no save confirmation.
Solution: This is quite common with Cloud services however this would be a nice feature to implement.

Problem:  You cannot just password protect a notebook.  This is inconvenient as you may not wish to even share a notebook at all.  

Solution: They could possibly improve this by allowing this feature.

Problem: You cannot filter by tags.  This is a disadvantage because applying tags to notes is a convenient feature that allows you to group/remember specific notes.  As your notebook grows, it may become harder to find notes.  

Solution:  Add filter to tags in OneNote.  This will help find notes more effectively and efficiently.