From+Tech-Phobic+to+Tech-Savvy+-+A+Guide+to+Online+Resources

ITEC041910001 - **From Tech-Phobic to Tech-Savvy: A Guide to Online Resources to Enhance Your Professional and Personal Productivity** October 27, 2010 Presented by Stephen Orr, Computer Resource Specialist, Bettie F. Williams Elementary School

Sometimes getting a handle on online technology can be a little overwhelming. This class will introduce participants to several free, user-friendly online resources that can help transform from techno-phobe to tech-integrator. Demonstrations of different Google products, including Docs and Gmail, and ideas for using social networking as a professional learning conduit will be given. Participants will explore how these resources can be used to enhance their instructional programs and personal productivity. Course material will be available online at Stephen’s wiki and on the VBCPS Sharepoint Site

When creating this list of useful tools, programs and websites, I extensively used **Lifehacker.com** for many of the items listed.

If you have other sites, tools or resources that would fit on this wiki, please email them to me.


 * 1. ONLINE GOOGLE PRODUCTS**


 * GMAIL** - Free online email service. Accessible on all platforms. Creates an account that allows you to use all of Google's productivity products.


 * GOOGLE DOCS**- A basic online office suite that includes a document creator (Word), spreadsheet (Excel), presentation software (PowerPoint), drawing program, and form creator. Microsoft office documents sent to you via Gmail attachment can be opened online with Google Docs.


 * GOOGLE CALENDAR** - Versatile, share-able online calendar that can be viewed on all platforms, and can even be synced with your school's Outlook calendar


 * GOOGLE READER**- A one-stop website where you can add RSS feeds and subscriptions to view updated content from multiple websites and other resource.


 * GOOGLE TALK** - An instant messaging service that allows quick communication with other Gmail account holders. You can select who you communicate with. Works especially well with smart phones.


 * Google for Educators** - One stop shop for free resources you can use in your classroom


 * 2. ADDITIONAL PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS**


 * [|OpenOffice] –** Full-featured productivity suite, compatible with Office 2007 and Office 2010. Includes programs that do the same things as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access, and includes a drawing program! Oh, and it’s free. Download.


 * Prezi** - Online Presentation Tool


 * CometDocs** - Online File converter.


 * Dragoman** - extensive file converter for Mac.


 * Universal Viewer** - Windows. Preview almost any file out there without the actual program needed to open it.


 * Evernote** - another great service for sharing your information between computers and portable devices.


 * PrimoPDF –** a great PDF creator that uses your printer function to create a universally readable document. Settings include screen, print, and web- optimized. A nice utility to install for your teachers who want to create PDFs on their classroom computers. If it can be printed, it can be PrimoPDF’d!


 * Online OCR**- Allows you to covert scanned PDFs into documents you can edit.


 * PDFtoWord** - Convert any PDF into a Word Document that you can edit.


 * PDFmyURL** - Turn any website into a PDF.


 * CustomGuide** - Free quick reference sheets for some of the most popular software from Windows Office, Adobe and more.


 * Themebuilder **- create your own themes for Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 products!


 * WinFontsView **- See samples of the Windows fonts installed on your system


 * Flixtime **- create video slide shows for download, for free.


 * [|Orzeszek Timer]** - Free countdown timer program for Window.


 * [|Manic Time]** - Time Tracking Software


 * Slim-Timer **- Online time tracking


 * RescueTime** - Time Management Software


 * 3. SOCIAL NETWORKING**


 * Twitter** - Perhaps you’ve heard of it. More and more educators are on Twitter, as well as education companies like Promethean and Smartboard.


 * Virginia Society for Technology in Education NING** - A professional learning community focused on educational technology in Virginia. Membership in VSTE is free.


 * Second Life** - Believe it or not, there is a thriving educational community in Second Life, a virtual world where educators from all over the globe can get together and share. VSTE even has its own island modeled after Jamestown.


 * 4. ONLINE MEDIA CREATION AND EDITING TOOLS**


 * Aviary Phoenix** - Free Online Image and Photo Editor


 * Aviary Talon** - Free online Screen Capture.


 * Aviary Roc** - Free Online Music Creator


 * Aviary Myna** - Free Online Audio Editor


 * Aviary Peacock **- Free Online Effects Editor


 * Aviary Raven** - Free Online Vector Image Editor

**Gimp – GNU Image Manipulation Program** – Very versatile and powerful alternative to Photoshop and Fireworks. Did I mention it was free?

 * [|Jaycut]** - Free, online video editing.


 * Paint.net –** Another program that does many of the same things as Photoshop, only FREE!


 * Picnik –** Online. Free registration. Upload pictures for simple editing. Red-eye, crop, resize, rotate, adjust exposure, and save back to your computer.


 * Fotoflexer –** Online. Offers more advanced editing options like special effects, text, layers, etc.


 * Thumba** - Online free photo editor.


 * Pho.to** - Online image editor


 * [|Sumo Paint] - Online Image Editor**


 * Pixlr** - Online Image Editor


 * StylePix** - another free, downloadable image editor.


 * SunlitGreen Photo Editor** - A downloadable photo editor you can put on a thumb drive. Windows.


 * Unshake** - All platforms. A small utility to help make your blurry pictures a little clearer.


 * 5. ONLINE AND DOWNLOADABLE MEDIA CAPTURE AND CONVERSION TOOLS** (These save as .flv or .mp4 files) – how to copy online video files and convert them to .wmv or other user friendly formats for classroom use.

.flv is a Flash-based file format used by most online video services like YouTube. MOST COMMON FORMAT!

.mp4 is a QuickTime-based format

When you want to download a video from YouTube, a quick and easy way to do it is to replace the "Y" in the YouTube url with a "3". It will then give you the option of downloading the video as either an .flv or .mp4.


 * KeepVid** – Copy and paste the video's URL to this site. Click Download button, and you can select to download either a low (.flv) or high (.mp4) quality version of the video to save. Right-Click-Save As to save the video to a preferred location.


 * BenderConverter** - download and convert videos from multiple video websites and save in multiple formats.

**6. FREE ONLINE CONVERSION SITES** – upload files you have downloaded, and select the format conversion you want.

**Zamzar Online File Conversion** – Popular conversion site. Upload, and enter your email, they will email a downloadable link to you. Paid subscriptions allow for more conversions and larger file sizes.

**MediaConverter.Org** – Site takes a bit to come up, but once you've uploaded your file, the conversion process is very fast.

**Media Convert Online** – Another site that converts files while you wait.

**7. FREEWARE VIDEO CONVERSION SOFTWARE**


 * Hamster Free Video Converter** - Install and easily drag and drop video files for conversion from one format to another. Windows [|Video]


 * [|Evom]**- Drag and drop video conversion for the Mac


 * Handbrake** - Excellent tool for converting personal DVDs or other video formats to portable (.mp4) formats.


 * AnyVideoCoverter** - Another great tool for converting videos from one format to another.


 * 8. FREEWARE FOR VIEWING DOWNLOADED AND CONVERTED MEDIA FILES**

**Adobe Media Player** - The best FLV player available. Requires Adobe Air.


 * FLV Player--> from CNET Download.com. Be careful not to auto-install the Yahoo Toolbar.**


 * Media Player Classic -** an older program, but very useful.


 * Miro** - Windows. Play practically any type of video files.


 * 9. OTHER ONLINE AND DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES YOU MAY FIND USEFUL**


 * dafont.com –** a HUGE library of fonts, more than 8,000, for every occasion. Most are free, some are shareware.


 * [|FontPark]** - Search-able, sortable database of over 70,000 free fonts.


 * Windows Security Essentials** - For Windows XP through Windows 7. I recently switched all of my home computers to this security suite after reading several experts who recommended it. No nagging pop up ads asking to upgrade.


 * AVG AntiVirus Free –** Hey, I know that protecting your personal computer is important to you, but a lot of commercial AV software programs are expensive. I have 6 computers at home that, until recently, ran nothing but AVG Free, and I’ve never had a virus problem with any of them.


 * [|Avast Free Antivirus]** - Another highly recommended anti-virus program.


 * Panda Antivirus** - Another highly reviewed, free anti-virus software program.


 * BelArc Advisor –** Ever curious about what exactly is on your computer? Belarc Advisor gives you a comprehensive, browser-based look at your hardware and software. And it’s free!


 * Speedtest.net –** Another online utility I use at home. Tests your download/upload speeds. BTW, the school network is actually pretty fast!


 * Giveaway of the Day** - Free sign-up. Links to one fully-licensed application per day at no cost, installation is only good for the day offered. Media conversion programs are offered every few days.


 * Ben's Bargains** - This is the only shopping site I visit on a daily basis. Ben scours the web for the best deals in technology and other areas.


 * SweetHome 3D** - Free Interior Design application. Create your floor plan in 2D, see it in 3D.


 * FreeNameTags** - Create your own free name tags that can then be printed out.