KingSoft free office suite software

<a href="http://www.kingsoftstore.com/index.html"></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.kingsoftstore.com/images/img/office-free.jpg" width="167" /></div><br />After posting about <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/05/ssuite-free-office-productivity.html">SSUITE free office software</a>, I found out about <a href="http://www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-freeware.html">KingSoft Free Office Suite Software</a> on Google+.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-freeware.html">KingSoft Free Office Suite Software</a> includes word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software and is easy to use, looking very similar to Microsoft Office. It is compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, as well as other file formats, and Microsoft Office can open KingSoft Office files without any additional software. It also features a built-in PDF converter and multiple document tabs.<br /><br />KingSoft Office is also available for <a href="http://www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-android">Android</a>. Kingsoft free Office for Android allows you to CREATE, VIEW and EDIT all documents used by Microsoft.<br /><br />This is another great option for teachers and students to have free software tools.<br /><br /><br /><b>Related:</b><br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-alternatives-to-microsoft-office.html">Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office</a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/google-for-educators_22.html">Google for Education Resources</a> - includes Google Docs, free online office software<br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/02/libreoffice-great-free-office-suite.html">LibreOffice - great free office suit</a>e - free, easy to use<br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/04/quickoffice-essential-app-for-mobile.html">QuickOffice - essential app for mobile devices</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/android-for-education.html">Android for Education Resources</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>

KingSoft free office suite software

After posting about SSUITE free office software , I found out about KingSoft Free Office Suite Software on Google+. KingSoft Free Office Su...

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SSUITE - free office productivity software

<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ssuitesoft.com/logos/Logo13.gif" style="padding-right: 5px; text-align: left;" /></div><br /><a href="http://www.ssuitesoft.com/">SSUITE </a>is free office productivity software that can be downloaded and used on any Windows system. Software includes: Desktop Office Suite (word processing, spreadsheets), money managers, invoice software, web browser, image editing, email, utilities, and much more.<br /><br /><img height="250" src="http://www.ssuitesoft.com/Graphics/WordFormat2.png" width="400" /><br /><br /><img height="374" src="http://www.ssuitesoft.com/Graphics/SpreadForm1.png" width="400" /><br /><br /><br />There is some great software here, all free, that can be of great use in education.<br /><br />Check out the full list of software here: <a href="http://www.ssuitesoft.com/software.htm">http://www.ssuitesoft.com/software.htm</a><br /><br />Check it out: <a href="http://www.ssuitesoft.com/">http://www.ssuitesoft.com</a><br /><br /><br /><b>Related:</b><br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-alternatives-to-microsoft-office.html">Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/google-for-educators_22.html">Google for Education Resources</a> - includes Google Docs, free online office software</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/02/libreoffice-great-free-office-suite.html">LibreOffice - great free office suit</a>e - free, easy to use<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>

SSUITE - free office productivity software

SSUITE is free office productivity software that can be downloaded and used on any Windows system. Software includes: Desktop Office Suite (...

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TeamViewer - free computer remote control and meeting software

<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="TeamViewer" border="0" class="logo" src="http://www.teamviewer.com/styles/teamviewer.png" style="height: 65px; width: 262px;" /></div><br /><a href="http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?cdsplit=C">TeamViewer</a> is a free, for non-commercial use, software, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, that lets you remote control computers, stream presentations, and hold online meetings. There are also iOS and Android apps available.<br /><br />This is a great option for schools looking to be able to remote control computers for tech support and help or hold online meetings/presentations/classes.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Picture of remote control" class="active" src="http://www.teamviewer.com/images/solutions/remotecontrol.jpg" /><br /><img alt="Picture of spontaneous support" class="active" src="http://www.teamviewer.com/images/solutions/spontaneoussupport.jpg" /><br /><img alt="Picture of online meeting" class="active" src="http://www.teamviewer.com/images/solutions/meeting.jpg" /><img alt="Picture of share ideas" class="active" src="http://www.teamviewer.com/images/solutions/shareideas.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Related:</b><br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/09/splashtop-remote-not-free-but-very.html">Splashtop Remote - remote control your computer, and access all of your files.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

TeamViewer - free computer remote control and meeting software

TeamViewer is a free, for non-commercial use, software, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, that lets you remote control computers, stre...

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LibreCAD - free, 2D CAD Software for Windows, OSX, and Linux

<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="124" id="il_fi" src="http://www.thinstallsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/LibreCAD-Portable.png" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /></div><br /><a href="http://ibrecad.org/cms/home.html">LibreCAD</a> is a free, open source, CAD application that is available for Windows, Apple, and Linux.<br /><br />LibreCAD is a 2D Computer Aided Design application that has all the features you would expect in a 2D CAD system. It is available in over 20 different languages and for Windows, Mac, and multiple Linux distributions.<br /><br />It is easy to use, with an intuitive menu and user interface.<br /><br />This is a great resource for students and teachers to use. Some of my students used it to design their bridges for our bridge project.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="223" src="http://librecad.org/files/live/users/hb/ag/hf/clive/files/Selection_021.png" width="400" /></div><br /><br /><b>Related/Similar:</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-top-10-free-google-resources-for.html">My Top 10 Free Google Resources for Education</a> - includes Google Sketchup 3D modeling software.<div><br /></div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/nasa-3d-resources-fun-and-educational.html">NASA 3D Resources - fun and educational</a> - includes downloadable models to use in CAD.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>

LibreCAD - free, 2D CAD Software for Windows, OSX, and Linux

LibreCAD is a free, open source, CAD application that is available for Windows, Apple, and Linux. LibreCAD is a 2D Computer Aided Design ap...

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ActivePresenter - free screencasting software

<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="rg_hi" data-height="96" data-width="96" height="96" id="rg_hi" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVBiABIVvj0pB84Uz30EZoHVFrhYGcMKZFMt63n30l8ghy9eigyg" style="height: 96px; width: 96px;" width="96" /></div><br /><a href="http://atomisystems.com/activepresenter/free-edition/">ActivePresenter</a> is a screencasting software that allows you to capture and publish what you did on your computer (similar to Camtasia).<br /><br />The free version has some great features and export formats. It allows you to record your whole desktop, a specific window or a preset size window.<br /><br />You can edit your recording afterwards using a timeline on the bottom of the screen to see ahead and behind the current view. You can insert things like annotations, voice overs, mouse clicks other videos and screenshots.<br /><br />You can then export your project in different formats, including images, Video (AVI, WMV, MPEG4 and WebM) or Flash Video (FLV),  PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and a few other formats.<br /><br />This is a great way for educators to produce tutorials, student help sessions and more.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Export Menu" height="266" src="http://atomisystems.com/uploads/2011/11/mainwindow2-300x200.png" width="400" /></div>

ActivePresenter - free screencasting software

ActivePresenter is a screencasting software that allows you to capture and publish what you did on your computer (similar to Camtasia). The...

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Tips for saving money and finding free resources for school

<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3rALLVaX7jeuOt9pzZK4DwpI6bsF8MFFZUk-Up5aaS5yni96FbPyRQTtwCGlRx906kJp9O1r-Q6gxPb1q51UQewhd61Mgt8WyR4gToqnIXoKzR26ChogijizYPgihQqAHzNzDuTgZQRq/s200/no-money-300x300.jpg" width="200" /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's serious crunch time in regards to education budgets. Budgets are staying flat or shrinking as costs go up. So, how do we cut costs to get the most bang for our buck?</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here are some tips:</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Homemade-Whiteboard-on-the-cheap!/"><b>DIY Whiteboards</b></a> - a regular whiteboard can cost hundreds of dollars. If you go to a home improvement store, you can buy the same material for a few bucks and glue it over an existing chalk board or wall. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And forget those expensive "Interactive Whiteboards" that are not interactive and are a huge waste of money since most teachers only use them as a projection screen. Save the $2500 and use it on other things that will get all of the students active. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. <b><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/03/professional-development-on-shoestring.html">Professional Development</a> </b>- don't hire expensive "Professional Trainers" that probably haven't been in a classroom in years. There are a lot of great presenters and trainers out there though too. But, if you are hurting for money, you need to cut these out (or at least decrease the number). Use the resources you have around you. There are plenty of people in your building or district that would make great PD presenters for you, and will be much less expensive than bringing in an outside trainer. Also, you can help other teachers create their own <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/create-personal-learning-network.html">personal learning network</a> for instant and always-on professional development. Related: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/03/professional-development-on-shoestring.html">Professional Development on a Shoestring Budget</a>, <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/great-articles-professional-development.html">Professional Development 2.0</a>. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. <b>Netbooks</b> instead of laptops or (sorry guys) Apple products - Netbooks are very inexpensive and you can use lots of free software on them. In fact, if they come running Linux, they are going to come with lots of software for you. I'm also waiting to see how much the <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/google-chrome-os-great-idea-for.html">Google Chrome OS notebook</a> computers will be because Chrome OS will be great for schools. You can get two netbooks for the cost of an inexpensive laptop or iPad and you can get 3-5 for a Apple laptop. You can also get 9 netbooks for the cost of one Interactive White Board. Related: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/06/acer-one-netbook-review.html">ACER One Netbook Review</a>, and <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/update-of-my-experience-with-acer.html">Update</a>.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">4. <b>Free Software and Services</b> - why pay for software when there is so much out there that is free (and in many cases, better than the paid version). <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-top-10-free-google-resources-for.html">Google has a million apps and services</a> that are free and then you have things like <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-alternatives-to-microsoft-office.html">OpenOffice</a>, <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/gimp-free-photo-and-graphics-editing.html">GIMP (graphics editing)</a>, and more that are really good and free. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Related: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/11/alternatives-to-software.html">Alternatives to Paid Software</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-do-schools-still-pay-so-much-for.html">Free Alternatives to Paid Software and Services</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/free-apps.html">Free Apps - Find Free Software</a></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">5. <b>Go Paperless!</b> If you have the computers, you can go paperless. You can also decrease the amount of paper used if you use computer based note taking, don't print emails, and use email instead of printed memos.  Related: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/tools-to-go-paperless-in-school-and-at.html">Tools to Go Paperless</a>.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">6.<b> Free Textbooks</b> - instead of spending $60 - $140 for textbooks that are heavy, static and get outdated quickly, look for free alternatives. Create your own "textbook" using a class website and posting materials there. Use free e-texts that are available. Use a variety of free resources instead of textbooks. Related: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/resources-to-replace-textbooks.html">Resources to Replace Textbooks</a>, <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/05/digital-textbooks.html">Digital Textbooks</a>, <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-textbooks-online-download-ipad.html">Free Textbooks (downloadable and online)</a>.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">7. <b>Find some grants and donations</b> - grants are a great way to get supplies and equipment for the classroom. Talk to local businesses and colleges and ask for donations of older equipment, computers,  furniture, and such. You can also ask local businesses for money donations. There are thousands of grants out there for teachers, but the applications can be time consuming. <a href="http://www.donorschoose.org/">Donor's Choose</a> is easy and a great way to get supplies for your classroom. Related: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/05/sources-of-funding-for-teachers.html">Sources of Funding for Teachers</a> </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">8. <b>In-house IT Help</b> - use knowledgeable teachers and students to help others with tech problems so that the IT department can focus on the big issues. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">9. <b>Free calculators</b> - if students will be working on computers a lot, like in a 1-1 program, why spend money on calculators? There are free calculators available online, and for download, so save your money. Related: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-online-scientific-calculators.html">Free online calculators</a>, <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/01/microsoft-mathematics-math-help-and.html">Microsoft Math - free math help and graphing calculator software.</a> </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">10. <b>Free Conferences</b> - why pay for an educational conference when there are so many free alternatives? I do like many conferences that you have to pay to attend (like <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/ceca-2010-conference.html">CECA</a>, <a href="http://www.techlearning.com/events/techforum/index">TechForum</a>, <a href="http://fetc.org/Events/2011-Conference/Home.aspx">FETC</a> and <a href="http://www.isteconference.org/2011/">ISTE</a>) but if you don't have the money, you can still attend some great conferences for free. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Some free alternatives</b>:</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://edcamp.wikispaces.com/">Edcam</a>p - held all over the country</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educon23.org/">EduCon</a> - held yearly in Philadelphia</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/w/page/19975349/FrontPage">Teachmeet</a> - held all over the world</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/w/page/19975349/FrontPage"></a><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/ntcamp-new-teacher-camp-educational.html">NT Camp</a> - held in multiple locations</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/discovery-education-spring-virtual.html">Discovery Education Spring Virtual Conference </a></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Discovery runs a lot of free online conferences and in person Day of Discoveries - check out the <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/den-blog-network-great-resource-for-all.html">DEN Blog Network</a> to find out about more of them)</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/11/virtual-tech-forum.html">Virtual Tech Forum</a> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/11/campus-technology-virtual-conference.html">Campus Technology Virtual Conference</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://goo.gl/0lXfu"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Virtual FETC Conference</span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>Related Articles and Resources</u></b></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b><a href="http://why%20do%20schools%20still%20pay%20so%20much%20for%20software/?%20Free%20alternatives%20to%20paid%20software%20and%20services">Why do schools still pay so much for software? Free alternatives to paid software and services</a></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-top-10-free-google-resources-for.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Top 10 Free Google Resources</span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-top-10-free-web-resources-for.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Top 10 Free Web 2.0 Resources for Students</span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-great-free-resources-from-discovery.html">Top 10 Free Resources from Discovery Education</a></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/02/free-stuff-summary-of-free-things-i-use.html">Free Stuff - summary of free things I use to save money at school</a></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/value-of-educational-technology.html">The Value of Educational Technology</a><br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-tl-blog-posted-today.html">Free Stuff for Educators</a></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-tl-blog-posted-today.html"></a><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/">The blog your are currently reading</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/">Free Technology for Teachers</a> - another great place to find free resources for your classroom. </span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="143" src="http://tctechcrunch.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/309340_f520.jpeg" width="200" /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are a lot of ways to save money at school. What do you use to save money at school? What resources do you use to find free things?</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Tips for saving money and finding free resources for school

It's serious crunch time in regards to education budgets. Budgets are staying flat or shrinking as costs go up. So, how do we cut costs ...

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Lightworks - professional video editing software available for free

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73y3yg_Vb_TezZhGqYhGNMxMmTrGW2u9zwySmWVVJIoQW2bu4qlIySGEmgBevVOgdXjWCZ-6Da1XKTWB_lTf1cY-ZBC_HVeJpC7Q3FsHcjm1dw39fFbXPNpmtCKSkzMG4Y5rSx1y8TCY/s1600/lightworks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="62" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73y3yg_Vb_TezZhGqYhGNMxMmTrGW2u9zwySmWVVJIoQW2bu4qlIySGEmgBevVOgdXjWCZ-6Da1XKTWB_lTf1cY-ZBC_HVeJpC7Q3FsHcjm1dw39fFbXPNpmtCKSkzMG4Y5rSx1y8TCY/s320/lightworks.png" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.lightworksbeta.com/">Lightworks</a> is a professional video editing software that has just gone public beta. The software is open source and has won Academy Awards and Emmy's. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">an Academy and Emmy award winning professional-grade editor with over 20 years of history in the film and broadcast industry. Having cut hundreds of films such as Pulp Fiction, The Departed, Centurion and Shutter Island, it includes a full feature set of editorial tools -- from advanced trimming and media management, to stereoscopic support and realtime effects including multiple secondary colour correctors. Lightworks has an advanced effects pipeline, utilizing the power of your GPU. And with support for up to 2K workflows with realtime effects, it is the most advanced editing application available.</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.lightworksbeta.com/">Lightworks</a> is <a href="http://www.lightworksbeta.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=108&Itemid=247">full featured</a>, has a <a href="http://www.lightworksbeta.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=218">support page</a>, and a <a href="http://www.lightworksbeta.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=listcat&catid=0&func=listcat&Itemid=270">growing community of users</a>. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is great for teachers for working with video for their classrooms and also great for students who are creating videos as assignments.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img alt="Lightworks Is a Speedy, Professional-Level (and Free) Open-Source Video Editor" src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2011/03/medium_1300-lightworks.jpg" /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>

Lightworks - professional video editing software available for free

Lightworks is a professional video editing software that has just gone public beta. The software is open source and has won Academy Awards ...

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Why do schools still pay so much for software? Free alternatives to paid software and services.

In this day and age of shrinking school budgets, I still don't understand why schools pay so much for software and services. I use all free services and software for my own use and with my classes and students. I think that schools should look at these free alternatives and seriously consider them. The old arguments of support and IT infrastructure no longer hold since many of these services have their own support and are hosted off site.<br /><br />Here are some of my suggestions for alternatives to paid services:<br /><br /><b>1. Operating System</b> - Windows vs. free. Windows licences are expensive. But Windows is entrenched and many IT departments, as well as users, are comfortable using them. However, there are great alternatives. Linux is the first alternative. Linux exits in many different forms and distributions, but the one I have used and find easy to use, is <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a>. It is easy to install, use, support and has free software that matches all of the Windows software. There are other alternatives coming soon also. <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/google-chrome-os-and-cr-48-notebook.html">Google Chrome OS</a> and <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/hp-announces-three-new-webos-devices.html">HP webOS</a> are coming to netbooks, laptops and tablets and will be nice alternatives.<br /><br /><b>2. Email</b> - Microsoft Exchange and Outlook are expensive. Gmail is free. I am a Gmail user so I'll focus on that, even though there are other free email systems out there. Gmail offers easy, free email systems. Gmail has integrated tasks, is accessible anywhere, and integrates nicely with other Google products. Once you have a Gmail account, you also have access to the rest of Google's apps, which I'll talk more about below.<br /><br /><b>3. Calendar</b> - Microsoft Outlook and Exchange systems have built in calendars, but so do other systems. <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/google-calendar-and-cell-phones.html">Google Calendar</a> is free and works well with Gmail and can even by synced to many smartphone calendars.<br /><br /><b>4. Office Suite</b> - Microsoft Office is expensive to license and use. I use two alternatives: <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-alternatives-to-microsoft-office.html">OpenOffice / Libre Office</a> and <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/05/google-docs-resources.html">Google Docs</a>.<br /><br />OpenOffice and LibreOffice are very similar. <a href="http://www.libreoffice.org/">LibreOffice</a> was born from the same group that originally created OpenOffice. Both of them look like Office 2003 in terms of menus and icons. They work the same, but can also save and export files in a variety of formats, including MS Office and  PDF. I have used both at home and currently use LibreOffice. I have them set up to automatically load and convert MS Office documents and then save those documents as MS Office file formats so that they work at school where we use MS Office.<br /><br />I also use <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-alternatives-to-microsoft-office.html">Google Docs</a>. This is another free service from Google. Google docs has word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawing apps and everything is done online with no downloads required. The other nice feature is the ability to collaborate with others and work on the same document at the same time.<br /><br /><b>5. Web Site Hosting</b> - many schools still pay for website hosting (and it's not cheap). <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-started-with-blogger-and-google.html">Google Sites</a> is a great, free alternative for teachers to use to create classroom and school websites. There is even a template for these types of sites to make it easier to create. <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-started-with-blogger-and-google.html">Blogger</a> also allows teachers to create free blogs to use with their classes and schools.<br /><br /><b>6. Graphics Software</b> - I know of many schools that pay a fortune for Photoshop when there are some great, free alternatives out there. <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/gimp-free-photo-and-graphics-editing.html">GIMP</a>, <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/01/aviary-education-safe-environment-for.html">Aviary</a>, and <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/picas-free-photo-editing.html">Picasa</a> are all different graphics editing software and apps that are free. All of them have different features and abilities, so check out each one and see which one best meets your needs.<br /><br /><b>7. Gradebook Software</b> - Another area that schools spend money on is gradebook software. In some cases this makes sense because the gradebook integrates with their student information system. But, if a school is paying for a stand alone gradebook system, they should look to <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-technology-i-use-on-daily-basis.html">Engrade</a> instead. <a href="http://www.engrade.com/">Engrade</a> is a web-based, free gradebook that is very powerful, full featured, and easy to use. I used it for many years until our school got a new SIS with an integrated gradebook. Students and parents can even have view access to see their grades at any time.<br /><br /><b>8. Graphing Calculators</b> - I still see schools and students spending way over $100 for graphing calculators. The reason I hate seeing this is that many of these schools and students have computers and smartphones available and there are free and very inexpensive graphing calculator apps and software out there that they could use instead.<br /><br /><b>9. PDF Creation</b> - for simple PDFs (and even some more complicated ones) you don't need to spend a lot of money on Acrobat. You can use OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and Google Docs to create your document and then save it as a PDF file. You can also use <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/merge-pdf-files-for-free.html">CutePDF</a> to create PDF files from anything you can print, including web sites. CutePDF installs as a printer so you just select CutePDF instead of a real printer and it converts your print job into a PDF file.<br /><br /><b>10. Organizing and Notetaking</b> - MS OneNote is great, but it costs money. <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2011/01/evernote-get-organized-free-and-on-all.html">Evernote</a> is free and does some great things. Organize notes, clip websites, upload photos (and search text in the photo), share notes, and so much more. Access from any computer and any smartphone. Evernote is one of those apps I can't live without.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/">Google Apps for Education</a> is a great way for schools to get a free, integrated set of tools. Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar, safety and security filtering and systems, Google Sites, Google Groups, Google Talk and much more.<br /><br /><br /><b>Resources to find free alternatives and free software and apps:</b><br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/11/alternatives-to-software.html">Alternativeto</a> - great site that allows users to plug in the current software they use and find alternative software titles. You can search by price/free also.<br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/">Education Technology Guy</a> - lots of free resources here<br /><br /><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/">Free Technology for Teachers</a> - great site with lots of free resources for educators.<br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/11/twitter-for-education-great-resource.html">Twitter</a> and your <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/create-personal-learning-network.html">PLN</a> - <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/11/twitter-for-education-great-resource.html">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/create-personal-learning-network.html">Personal Learning Networks</a> are a great way to find out about free resources from other educators.<br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/03/free-educational-technology-journals.html">Tech&Learning Magazine</a> - free educational technology magazine with lots of great resources. Website also has great resources and articles.<br /><br /><a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/03/free-educational-technology-journals.html">THE Journal</a> - another free educational technology magazine with great articles and resources.<br /><br /><br /><br />What free apps, software, and alternatives do you use and recommend?

Why do schools still pay so much for software? Free alternatives to paid software and services.

In this day and age of shrinking school budgets, I still don't understand why schools pay so much for software and services. I use all f...

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Intel AppUp - app store for your computer

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Intel AppUp(SM) center" height="63" src="http://www.appup.com/applications/en_US/Assets/Image/marquee/logo-appup-main.png" width="400" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://www.appup.com/applications/index">Intel AppUp</a> is an online app store for your computer. There are paid and free apps, searchable by topic, available for Windows XP and Windows 7 as well as Moblin.<br /><br />Intel markets it as an app store for your netbook, but I've found some cool free apps on it, including some for education. I was also happy to see that Angry Birds is now available for Windows. How will I ever get any work done?<br /><br />There are apps for education, games, reference, sports, books, utilities, and much more. You can also search by paid or free.<br /><br />This is a good resource for teachers and students looking for free apps for their Windows computers (desktop or notebook.).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ACJQ-CvmieAnrNhS_9dRKF-281w-jewzDoFpzgbiYs90D6Fg_M1Xk2xcs1FQ1AcWmdAJSzviWQHCeck-RA8aGVBqWyNzE5qK9mY-KfNQzCDuRBKXtLimJpswAV_4V2AI76QMSENyMlw/s1600/intel+appup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ACJQ-CvmieAnrNhS_9dRKF-281w-jewzDoFpzgbiYs90D6Fg_M1Xk2xcs1FQ1AcWmdAJSzviWQHCeck-RA8aGVBqWyNzE5qK9mY-KfNQzCDuRBKXtLimJpswAV_4V2AI76QMSENyMlw/s400/intel+appup.png" width="400" /></a></div>

Intel AppUp - app store for your computer

Intel AppUp is an online app store for your computer. There are paid and free apps, searchable by topic, available for Windows XP and Windo...

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Free Apps - easily find free software for your computer

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbod-3dgwrJNTJDR-C6XBQ16G70a2jTCYxDfJn7J1ouazNe9LjyvBNCXnyKcgXBnmPzs46qW09VJ0WUCK7-mPqhX8HkMmpPBhLIMdh4sIExl1GIQzueD2LRvTvNSwGo6gF58r7lHy-Hh8/s1600/freeapps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbod-3dgwrJNTJDR-C6XBQ16G70a2jTCYxDfJn7J1ouazNe9LjyvBNCXnyKcgXBnmPzs46qW09VJ0WUCK7-mPqhX8HkMmpPBhLIMdh4sIExl1GIQzueD2LRvTvNSwGo6gF58r7lHy-Hh8/s320/freeapps.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://www.freenew.net/">FreeApps</a> is a web site that aggregates free software and lets you download it all from one site. You can choose free software ranging from web browsers, to email and communications, to utilities like anti-virus and firewall. Most of the free software they offer is well known, such as Firefox, AVG, Adobe Reader, and the like, but this site makes it easy to find it all in one spot. It also bundles the software into one file for downloading. There is a very large variety of software available. See below for some of them.<br /><br />Teachers can use this themselves, but it is also a very good resource to let your students know about so that they can easily find some of this great free software that is out there.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltqoE4BEYXOMChxTUVGqfRe-BQGLfXyHiLF3jUzzeRT67zksJsRRQPwCp2Q0SlzmrTuwjn8cqje-0NMFkiflTv_hBtcbEL6eR6McU3JWlM_WjBW_JZEjeEc_fn0qzioHmxHfHkCN87q8/s1600/free+apps+list+of+apps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltqoE4BEYXOMChxTUVGqfRe-BQGLfXyHiLF3jUzzeRT67zksJsRRQPwCp2Q0SlzmrTuwjn8cqje-0NMFkiflTv_hBtcbEL6eR6McU3JWlM_WjBW_JZEjeEc_fn0qzioHmxHfHkCN87q8/s640/free+apps+list+of+apps.png" width="366" /></a></div>

Free Apps - easily find free software for your computer

FreeApps is a web site that aggregates free software and lets you download it all from one site. You can choose free software ranging from ...

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Teaching with Technology

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVdakmaxJDbdZyHxOmdyhHO73UGHsRXONfwSwUkLqKLyNwMkgt-Vdz_LwDIxFr5ClaDmCa6dUl5WjdqpoDD93N7ejwq2hmTjJ_ThiqA9S42AhUh3yXunS7NCehG51oBFMR5jiISokli44/s1600/teaching+with+technology.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462288854697362002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVdakmaxJDbdZyHxOmdyhHO73UGHsRXONfwSwUkLqKLyNwMkgt-Vdz_LwDIxFr5ClaDmCa6dUl5WjdqpoDD93N7ejwq2hmTjJ_ThiqA9S42AhUh3yXunS7NCehG51oBFMR5jiISokli44/s400/teaching+with+technology.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://ipt286.pbworks.com/Index">Teaching with Technology</a> is a great resource for teachers. It has a list of different technology resources for educators. The resources are grouped in tables by category. Categories include Tools for: Creating, editing, and sharing; Communicating and networking; Managing time, tasks, and information, and Making it all work.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many of the resources I've covered here in this blog, but there are a lot of other great resources listed. Everything from documents to presentations to videos to Skype to Twitter to Google Calendar to Remember the Milk to firewalls and anti-virus. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is definitely a site to check out and bookmark.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>

Teaching with Technology

Teaching with Technology is a great resource for teachers. It has a list of different technology resources for educators. The resources are...

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