The Price is Right

1. Applications and online tools priced just right: $0 The Price is Right

2. General Overview • Customize your web experience • Office Applications and Online Office Suites • Portable Apps • Blogs and Wikis • Online File Storage, Publishing, and Sharing • Video Conferencing • Media Converters • Social Networking • Video Sites for Teachers and Students • Photo Editing and Sharing Tools • Taking Polls….and a little fun stuff, too!!!

3. Customize your web experience Get an account and customize your home page on the web: • http://www.google.com • http://www.yahoo.com • http://www.live.com Extra (free applications to get more out of your operating system): • http://www.windowslive.com • http://widgets.yahoo.com/ • http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/ • Google Notebook (best way to surf)

4. Free Office Applications • http://www.zoho.com • Zoho is a comprehensive online suite of applications (too many to list) that can allow you to create any type of document and collaborate. • http://docs.google.com • Google Docs is an online office suite (Word Processing, Spreadsheets, and Presentations) that allows quick, real time web publishing and collaboration. • http://www.openoffice.org • Sun Microsystem’s popular and free full-fledged office suite that is completely compatible office with Microsoft Office. • http://symphony.lotus.com • IBM offers this free office suite that is completely that is completely compatible office with Microsoft Office. • http://www.scribus.net/ • Open source desktop publishing application like MS Publisher.

5. Portable Apps for your USB Key • http://www.portableapps.com • If you have a USB key you can run an entire computer from it. • Portable apps is the place to go to find free applications: office suites, web browsers, email clients, image editors, and audio and video editors and players.

6. Excellent Blogging Tools A great way to communicate with students and get feedback from them. • http://www.blogger.com • Google’s blogger is the most popular blogging tool on the web. • http://www.wordpress.org • Another great blogging tool. • You can create an audio RSS feed with www.talkr.com • Add widgets with www.widgetbox.com • Embed live chat with www.coveritlive.com

7. Wikis: Document Centered collaboration • NHS Wikis are available here at the school and were built and maintained by Tom McLaughlin. Popular Wikis available on the web • http://www.pbwiki.com • http://www.wikispaces.com • http://www.wetpaint.com/

8. Online File Storage, Publishing, and Sharing • http://www.skydrive.com • Microsoft Skydrive offers you 5GB of file storage online. You can create file folders, nest folders, and share or publish folders on the web to share documents with students. • http://www.officelive.com • Microsoft’s big brother to Skydrive. This a phenomenal storage and collaboration application, though it isn’t for publishing to students. • http://www.box.net • Box.net is another very good online file storage and sharing site.

9. RSS Readers: Bring the web 2 U • RSS readers allow you to collect web content. Rather than going to sites for content, the sites send their information to you  • http://www.google.com/reader • http://www.newsgator.com/ • RSS Page feeds • http://www.netvibes.com • http://www.pageflakes.com

10. Video Conferencing • http://www.skype.com • A great free videoconferencing tool for Mac and PC. • http://www.tokbox.com • Online version of Skype, also does IM and can scan your email to find your friends.  • http://www.mebeam.com • No account needed. setup a room and invite people in to have a video conference. • http://www.ustream.tv/ • http://www.mogulus.com/ • Create your own live, streaming TV channel. You can also watch feeds from all over the world.

11. Media Converters • http://www.media-convert.com • This site allows you to convert pretty much any video file into whatever format you need. • http://www.zamzar.com • Zamzar allows you to download videos from YouTube and other video file sharing sites.

12. Social Networking & Collaboration • http://www.ning.com • Create your own social network or join one specifically targeted to your interests. • http://www.twitter.com • Send short messages (140 characters or less) from your computer or cell phone about what you are doing at the moment. • http://www.secondlife.com • A virtual world where you can literally conduct a SecondLife. • http://www.yugma.com • Yugma allows you to share your computer screen via the internet. This is a great online meeting collaboration tool. There is a plug-in for Skype, which makes this really easy to use.

13. Video sites for teachers & students • http://www.teachertube.com • Videos for Teachers • http://www.schooltube.com • Video hosting for students and teachers

14. Photo editing & sharing tools • http://www.photosynth.com • Microsoft’s latest creation allows you to create full 3D images using your just your digital camera. Check out a synth today  • http://www.getpaint.net/ • PaintDotNet is a free photo editing application that is easy to use and offers many of the features of Photoshop and Fireworks. • http://www.gimp.org/ • The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free Photoshop. The little character is named Wilbur. • http://mypictr.com/ • Quick and easy online cropping and resizing tool.

15. Photo Sharing & Slide Shows • http://www.flickr.com • Flickr is the most popular picture sharing site on the web. • http://voicethread.com • Like Photostory except you can now collaborate asynchronously. Students can upload pictures to tell a story and others can comment on their work. • http://www.slideshare.net/ • This is a great place to post your PowerPoint, Keynote, Open Office, or PDF presentations (especially if you are traveling or ever forget your USB key). • http://www.slide.com • You can do slide shows, funpix,…(and create virtual pets). • http://www.mixbook.com/ • Just like iPhoto or Kodak Gallery, but you don’t have to download anything. Mix and match photos from a variety of galleries. This is great for creating a printed book that is a true class collaboration.

16. Taking Polls and Surveys • Google Docs spreadsheet form: http://spreadsheets.google.com/newform When you create a spreadsheet, your first row becomesthe questions. Just start a spreadsheet and click on theShare tab. In the next screen “Invite people to:” click on “to fill out a newform” and then the “Preview and send form” button. You can then create allkinds of questions for your form and use the link to share with those fromwhom you want to gather data. • SurveyMonkey surveys: www.surveymonkey.com • This is a great online survey tool that allows you to create up to a 10-question online survey, batchsend the request participation and harvest the results. There is a moresophisticated version that is fee-based.

17. More sites to take polls • • Quibblo – http://www.quibblo.com(You can copy and create graded quizzes too!) • • MicroPoll - www.micropoll.com • • Poll Junkie - www.polljunkie.com • Poll Daddy embedded survey: www.polldaddy.com • This is a free program that will allow you to create an interactive poll that can be embedded in your wikispace, webpage, etc. The results are available in your Poll Daddy account

18. Fun Stuff: Cartoons and Posters • http://www.glogster.com/ • Glogster is a great place where you can create posters for any purpose • http://www.comiclife.com • Use your photos to create comics. • http://www.toondoo.com/ • Create Comics online. • http://www.joost.com/ • Free television…real TV (not YouTube)