Liberty Math Teacher Launches eNotebook App

One local math teacher has found a way to make note taking even easier for his students. 

WeLearn Educational Software in Mount Airy, founded by National Board Certified teacher Kevin Giffhorn, launched an eNotebook app Tuesday to help K-12 and college students take and organize notes on the iPad.

The app was developed by Giffhorn and is the only app that allows students to easily combine teacher-distributed Word, PowerPoint and PDF files and their own markups and notes to create fully functional virtual notebooks, according to a Carroll County Economic Development press release. 

"I thought about how I teach and how students would benefit from using technology in the classroom," said Giffhorn, who heads the math department at . 

"In most cases, students are still using the traditional paper and pencils, while all other areas of instruction have advanced," said Giffhorn, founder of WeLearn Educational Software and the 2011 Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics' High School Teacher of the Year.

"ENotebook allows students to fully use the power of tablet computers to take notes, stay organized and study more efficiently, leading to higher academic achievement." 

The application allows students to have different eNotebooks for each subject that they can store and arrange on a central eBackpack screen. To make the application as student-focused as possible, Giffhorn ran a three-month beta testing program, which included input from elementary school, middle school, high school and college students. 

"The students’ input was invaluable, and I knew we had a successful app when the some of the students started using the pre-released app to take school notes in their classes," said Giffhorn.

"We have also gotten a great reception from teachers in all disciplines, not just math and science, but English, foreign language, history, art and music as well. The teachers are excited that students can use technology to read, write, edit and study all in one place." 

The eNotebook app is available for $4.99 in the App Store on iTunes, with educational volume discounts available for large-scale iPad rollouts at schools and colleges.