Notability is an app that allows you to take notes and annotate pdfs. It is an app that has very basic functionality and should not be used for submitting written assignments that require any type of formatting (MLA). It is not intended to be used to write papers. You should be using Pages for all assignments that require MLA formatting.
To ensure that your work is backed up somewhere, we strongly recommend that you synchronize Notability with your Google Drive. This synchronization is automatic. The only thing you have to do once it is set up is to make sure that any new subject that you create in Notability after you set it up to sync to Google Drive is “checked” and added to the list of subjects in Notability to back up to Google Drive. You may also back up to iCloud, but it makes more sense to back up to Google Drive as this is the tool that you use to submit assignments in to Haiku. There are two ways to access your Google Drive: one is via the Internet and the other is through the Google Drive App available through the App Store (https:// itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-drive/id507874739?mt=8).
Step 1: Create a new folder to back up to on Google Drive. Instructions on how to do this will be presented fro both the Google Drive app for iPad and the web-based version of Google Drive.
Google Drive App
Open the Google Drive App on your iPad and sign into Google using your Tampa Prep email if necessary. Create a new folder by clicking the "+" sign in the lower right corner of the window.
Select "Folder” from the list that appears in the pop-up screen in the bottom right corner.
Type in a name for your new folder such as “Notability Backup" or “Notability Fall 2015” and click "Create".
The new Notability Docs folder will now appear in the list of folders on your Drive.
Google Drive Online
You may also access Google Drive via the Internet by opening a browser window and opening Google (www.google.com). Click the "Sign In" button in the upper right corner of the page. Enter your Tampa Prep email address (such as smith.joe@tampaprep.org) and your password. Then click the blue "Sign in" button. A menu bar will appear in black in the upper left corner. Click on "More" and select "Drive" from the drop down
list. Once Google Drive opens in the browser window, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and be sure that "Desktop", not "Mobile" is selected where it says "View Google Docs in:" in the fine print. Create a new folder on the Drive. Click the red "New" button in the upper left corner and Select "Folder".
Type a name for the folder such as "Notability Backup” or “Notability Fall 2015” the text box that pops up and click the blue 'Create' button.
The new folder called "Notability Backup" should now appear in your folder list.
Setting up Autosync to Google Drive in Notability App
After you have created the Notability Backup folder on your Google Drive, open the Notability app on your iPad. Locate the gear icon on the bottom left side of the screen (next to the picture of the question mark and information icon).
A new window will open. Select “Auto Backup” from the options on the left. You should see a list of storage options including Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud. Select the Google Drive option. It is better to use Google Drive vs. iCloud simply because you need to upload your Notability notes and pdfs to Google Drive anyway to turn them in to your teachers in Haiku. This saves a step as it automatically uploads all of your Notability documents to Google Drive. If you are not signed into your Tampa Prep email account, you will likely be prompted to sign in.
Google may ask you to allow it to access your Drive. The window that requests this may look like the photo below. Select "Allow Access”. You may also manage your online storage accounts by tapping the “Manage Accounts” tab on the left and logging in or out of your Google Drive account from there.
Click the "Close" button to close the window, or tap “Auto backup" on the left to return to the online storage settings.
Click the gear next to Google Drive.
A new window will open showing you the default settings for the destination folder, file format and subjects to back up. You can change the settings by tapping the arrow next to the setting you want to view or change. To set the destination folder for your Notability documents on Google Drive, tap the arrow next to the folder under "Destination Folder”. (Remember - you have already created a new destination folder in Google Drive). Select the folder on Google Drive where you would like to store your Notability documents. In this example, I have selected the "Notability Backup" folder.
After selecting the destination folder, click the "Back up to Google Drive” (in blue font) button at the bottom of the screen and then click the “Pick Sync Folder arrow in the upper left corner. You must tap on “Backup to Google Drive” for the backup to work.
After you tap the "Back up to Google Drive" button, the Google Drive Settings screen will re-open. Under "File Format", please select “PDF” for the file format. All of your Notability Subject folders and notes will be listed under “Back up These Subjects”. Make sure that everything has a check mark next to it,including “Unfiled Notes”, otherwise it will not be backed
up. Only the subjects that you have marked will be backed up. Be sure to check that any new Subjects that you add in Notability are included in the list to back up. Never assume that the new Subject will be automatically added to the list of Subjects to back up.
When done, click the "Settings" button in the upper left corner of the window. This will take you back to the main "Settings" window. Click the "Close" button in the upper right corner to exit the Settings window. On the bottom right you should see the words “Backing up” with a blue progress circle.
Do not exit out of Notability until the backup has completed and you see the word “Finished”.
When you see that “Backing Up” has been replaced by finished, you know that the backup is complete. You have now successfully set up online storage for Notability and ensured that your documents are automatically imported into Google Drive. This facilitates submission to Haiku and also makes file restoration much easier in the event that you Notability notes are lost or missing on your iPad. Please be sure to periodically check Google Drive to be sure that back ups to are happening. A recent update disabled the backup feature, requiring students to re-setup the auto-backup to Google Drive. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Lassacher.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.