PaperPort Notes

PaperPort Notes is a free, all-in-one, note-taking app. In addition to creating a blank note, Paperport Notes allows users to import documents (e.g., PDF, Word Doc, PowerPoint, JPEG, and more) then edit, annotate, draw, insert additional images, and highlight on the document. Users can also insert images from their camera roll or capture a snapshot from a web page. Plus, there are several types of background choices, including blank, white-lined, yellow-lined, or graphing. Advanced features allow users to create audio recordings that are saved into each page, bookmark notes for quick return access, and convert an image of text into an editable textbox. After users create a note, it is saved automatically and can be shared as a PDF or JPEG using email, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, Camera Roll, or with another app.

Instructional Ideas

1. Teachers and students can complete paperless work. Using a class website such as Edmodo, Schoology, or Canvas (all of which are available as websites and apps), teachers can provide links to PDF, Microsoft Word©, or Microsoft PowerPoint© files that their students can open in PaperPort Notes. Students can then annotate, draw, type, and insert images on the document. Once finished, students can share their work by posting it to the class website or emailing it to their teacher for grading.
2. Teachers can take screen shots of informational web pages and then share them with students using Google Drive, Dropbox, email, or another app. Students can then use PaperPort Notes to import the file. At this point, students can use the highlight tool to annotate the screen shot and post their finished work back to the website.
3. Students can use PaperPort Notes as a journal and picture gallery. To do so, students take actual photos and insert them alongside their written notes. For example, in the Science classroom, students can take pictures of experiments and add lab notes. In Math, students can take pictures of a math problem and explain the procedure they used to solve it. In the humanities subject areas (e.g., English, History, Art, etc.), students can take a picture of an image that relates to the topic being studied and compose a rationale that explains the image’s thematic connection to the topic being studied.
4. Students can keep an audio record of their progress as they study another language and pronunciation using the page-recordings feature in this app, and teachers can have students share their progress during a one-on-one conference.
5. Teachers can use this app to keep a log of activity and participation for each student, which would include photos with annotations and captured audio observations. Teachers can then share the note(s) using the Evernote app, in which they would have a folder for each of their students. This information could also be shared with parents during a conference.

Screenshots