Tech Tips
There is something to be said about using the wealth of free and online tools for creating engaging learning materials for your courses.
This area of the site provides you with some technology tips and also some ideas for how free tools can be used in working more efficiently, more safely, and more accessibly.
If you have tips to share, please email them to me at jamesfalkofske [at] yahoo[dot] com.
Instant Messaging
Make yourself available to text and video messaging. Setup conferences with students, conduct oral exams, provide advising at a distance.
There are many services from which to choose; here are a few.
Service | Get an Account | Download the Software | Access Via the Web |
---|---|---|---|
AOL | Get AOL Email Account | Download AOL Dashboard | AIM Express |
Yahoo | Create Yahoo Account | Download Yahoo Messenger | Yahoo Messenger Online |
MSN | Get Microsoft Live Account | Download Microsoft Live | MSN Messenger |
GoogleTalk | Create Google Account | Download GoogleTalk | |
Meebo - Multisite Instant Messaging | Login to Meebo |
Online Document Authoring / Collaboration
These tools allow you to create documents and materials online.
Site | Description |
---|---|
Google Tools - these require a Google account |
Google has a suite of different free tools for creating online websites and online documents (for collaboration and group work). Access to the tools requires that you first create a user account for logging into your content areas.
|
Microsoft Windows Live and Microsoft Office Live |
Free online file storage (access from anywhere). Create workspaces from templates, and share files with others. Upload and then view documents via web-browser. Edit and save documents online. |
WikiSpaces | Free space for creating a sample Wiki (advertising supported) |
Zoho | Free productivity and collaboration tools (mail, writer, spreadsheet, presentation shows, notebook, wiki, file sharing, planning, chat, web-meeting, reports, projects) |
OpenOffice - free and open source (and multi-platform) productivity suite which closely resembles Microsoft Office 2003.