Page 4 - Writing Moves Digital Toolbox

Digital
Toolbox
Section 1

• Evernote

Evernote works as a reading app, but also a digital file cabinet, notebook, and even a presentation tool,
and students often use it for multiple purposes across their courses. As a reading app, it supports anno-
tation through highlighting, mark up, and the insertion of typed-in comments (Figure IV.1.3).

Figure IV.1.3: Screenshot of Evernote using the web clipper tool to screenshot a web page,
with annotations using the annotation tool in Evernote

Evernote is a cross-platform tool, available for download on computers or as an app for iOS or Android,
with both a free and paid version. It links to other tools, like Skitch for page capture and annotation and
Post-it notes. We say more about Evernote as a tool for content management later in this section.

• Other Useful Reading Apps

The Kindle e-reader lets you highlight and make notes in the books you read with it. Skitch lets you
capture and annotate screenshots of material you want to save. Other useful apps include Pocket, which
lets you save articles to read later, Annotate, for capturing and annotating images, and Hypothes.is, is a
social annotation tool that allows you to share your annotations across devices and communities. This
free tool can be used by specific groups (such as a class or writing group), or the annotations you post
can be made public.

Purpose
Generating Ideas and Planning

Much of the work you’ll do in the idea generating and planning phase of your composing process is likely
to take place in different modes. You might freewrite with pencil and paper or on the computer. You might
generate ideas and plan a composition by sketching with pencil and paper or using a drawing program or a
sketching app or a dedicated mind-mapping tool. You might organize your discussion of a sequence of events
by placing them on a timeline, or use the organizational strategy of outlining, which can be done with pencil
and paper as easily as in digital formats. You’re likely to move fluidly among these processes, and there are
a several digital tools that are useful for these purposes.