Tweetdeck

I honestly can't believe I haven't posted about Tweetdeck before. I absolutely LOVE this application for Twitter. Ok, I'm highly addicted to Twitter. Sometimes I'm asked, "How can you possibly follow so many people and find value?" My answer is Tweetdeck!

It's a free download that runs on Adobe Air.

It takes a while to learn all that you can do on Tweetdeck. I recommend you do a google search and read some guides or watch a video on YouTube about all the features it has.

Sorry, time to fire up Tweetdeck and find some tweeps!

LibraryThing

I love LibraryThing! As a frequent shopper at used book sales, I have frequently purchased duplicate copies of books. With LibraryThing, I can enter all my books (even using a cue cat to scan the ISBN numbers) and have access to this list from my cell phone, etc.

There are free accounts for up to 200 books (hey, there's more than that under my bed!) yearly accounts for $10 or lifetime (This was my choice) for $25.

There is also a social aspect to LibraryThing. You can view lists, reviews, friend people, etc.

Lesson Prepping

I spend a lot of time prepping lessons. I'm not really sure why, since I rarely follow my notes. Teaching for me is quite organic. What comes to mind in the next moment often is better than what resides in my notes. I guess that's why I love teaching.

But I do need notes. I guess one of the main reasons is that I teach the same subjects each year and want to be sure I cover the same material. Especially since I create my own tests.

I like outlines. Yeah, call me old school, but an outline is concise, organized and VERY visual. I usually make my outlines in pages (mac) or WORD (windows) depending on which machine on which I'm working.

I keep trying out new outlining software. My latest app I'm trying is Process.

Open Office

Recently I had a student who needed a word processing application, but needed something free.  I recommended the full productivity suite available at OpenOffice.org 

It's FREE and open source.  The products I've used have been able to download and upload windows files without a hitch.  I've liked having it on old machines that I'm unwilling to pay for new software.

The applications include 

     Writer (text document)

     Calc (spreadsheet)

     Draw (drawing - vector graphics)

     Impress (slideshow presentation)

     Base (database)

     Math (formula editor)

Jing

Looking to make a screencast? Try Jing.

A free and paid service that allows you to create screencasts is a major productivity tool, at least for me!  They have great tutorials on how to use the service. 

Smilebox

One new little service I've just loved for education and plain 'ole fun is Smilebox!

What is Smilebox?
Smilebox is a fun and engaging service that connects you with family and friends using your photos and videos. It's free, easy to use, and the results are amazing.

What can I make with Smilebox?
With Smilebox, you can create animated scrapbooks, photobooks, slideshows, postcards, and ecards for any occasion, and email them to anyone.

Is it free?
Yes, you can personalize and email or blog any design for free. You can also do more by purchasing the premium version of a design or joining Club Smilebox. Click here to see what you can do!

We've done some class photos with Smilebox and I used it at Christmas. I love that when I upload pics to iPhoto it automatically opens up Smilebox to use them!

Drop in and check it out!

iGTD for mac

iGTD 

Need an app for project and task management.  Here's a nifty one for mac users.  The interface is simple and easy to use.  The best news - its FREE!

Schoolhouse 2.0 for Mac

Schoolhouse 2.0 for Mac

This is a great organizer program for students (and applicable for teachers too).  It is only for mac, but its a well-done program and it's FREE!

Adobe Buzzword

Adobe Buzzword

This online word processor allows you to work collaboratively with others and access your documents from any computer.  It's definitely a handy tool and free!  It allows mac and pc users to work together online without having to convert everything back and forth.  Love it...

Twhirl

Twhirl

Twhirl is a desktop client that helps manage your Twitter account.  If you have multiple accounts this is great for following them all simultaneously.  Give it a whirl!

iSquint

iSquint

iSquint is a slick little app that allows you to turn most any video into one that is compatible with iPods.  Since I use iPods to keep up on the news and reading, etc. this app is fantastic!  I simply drag a video to the iSquint panel and in a few minutes it can download it directly to my iTunes account and sync to my iPod.  Love it....

Rulers

Rulers

This is a simple little program, but quite handy.  Basically it puts rulers at the top and side of your desktop (using a variety of measurements you can choose).  It's available for both windows and mac.

NetNewsWire

NetNewsWire

I can't imagine life with an rss feed reader.  I subscribe to quite a few blogs (news, tech, hobby, etc.) and its the best way to keep up with them.  NetNewsWire used to be paid app but went free a few months ago.  It is a mac app.  Their reader for windows is FeedDemon.  I use NetNewsWire (I switched to it from Vienna) but I hear google reader works fine too.

Here are a couple of links listing free rss feed readers:

about.com

New Aggregators Directory

MindNode

MindNode

For those that use mind mapping (I'm more of an outline chick) here is a free app for macs.

Flickr

Flickr

Obviously not specifically an education app, it serves some great purposes.  You get free online (limited) storage and can upgrade at a fee for more.  Flickr has great plug ins for many other apps.

Evernote

Evernote.com

How do I explain evernote?  It's a way to keep all the data, photos, notes, phone numbers, etc. that you run across everyday but can't ever find when you need them.  It lets you organize this info with tags.  There's so much more.

Here is a link to their own description: www.evernote.com/about/what_is_en/

Skitch

Skitch.com

Wow!  I love this little app.  I use it for all kinds of things!

Skitch allows you to take a snap shot of any screen (there are a lot of other apps that do this) but then you can draw and write on it, move it around (like a picture) and save it.

You can also draw with it, which is definitely better handled with a stand alone mouse!  It's simple and helpful.

For the windows users, here is the link for pc users to get Skitch