For the post-holiday weekend I'm presenting some basic tips & tools, revisited. I've mentioned some of these tools in a previous Lunch & Learn. Their simplicity is worth repeating.
Tools:
Print Friendly: do you find yourself printing webpages for your files (analog files) or to pass along to an analog reader or for some other paper-based purpose? Or, do you wish you could just save a webpage to come back and read later? PrintFriendly is a website that will create a print friendly version of almost any website. Just copy and paste the link from your desired website into the PrintFriendly site. You can have the PDF mailed to you, download it immediately or sent it right to the printer. No login required.
Unfriendly file types. Have you ever received a document attachment that you couldn't open because you didn't have the right application? Zamzar is a file conversion site. You upload the file you want to convert (100MB limit), select the file type you want to end up with, enter your email address and click 'convert.' You'll get an email when the conversion is completed, with a link to the file for downloading.
Pump up the volume. Have you ever wished you could listen to a web-based story instead of read it? Perhaps you're also cleaning out your office, shredding old student exams or perhaps getting a pedicure? SoundGecko converts web based content into audio-based stories. A paid version allows you to convert PDF content to audio, too.
Share files? Look to the Google! Google Drive that is. You may already know you have Google Drive, but have you really used it? Google Drive operates like your f:drive, except it's available everywhere you can get to the internet. The next time you need to give someone a file, don't email the attachment. Instead it, share it via Google Drive. Upload to your own Drive, then share with your mate. You'll both maintain access to the file "in the cloud." If the file needs to be edited, you can either convert a Word document to a Google document, or just create one from scratch. Both you and your collaborator can edit without losing track of who is making changes. Bonus: did you know you can connect a file from your Google Drive to your Moodle site? When you are adding files to a Moodle course, check out the options OTHER than upload on the add file page. One of the options on the left-hand side is "Google Doc"
What's your favorite tech tool?
I’ve used PrintFriendly for a couple years now (mostly for recipes, I confess), since I first found out about it from Lisa. Not only does it automatically eliminate all of the ads and banners, but it also allows you to delete unwanted or superfluous information within the text of the page, e.g., photos, links to ‘related’ stories. Sometimes you lose some of the formatting, such as bullet-points or indents, but most of the time it works quite well. I’m a fan.
ReplyDeleteI am so not a tech person, that all of these ideas are just so helpful to learn about. Also, hearing how others use them is great.
ReplyDeleteI tried the Coe Athletics web site in PrintFriendly and SoundGecko. I'm now sold on both of these tools. I frequently come across articles on the web that can only be printed with wasted pages of superfluous information. I'm glad to have made PrintFriendly's acquaintance. As for Google Drive, I'm not yet there and I'm not sure I ever will.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in trying out the PrintFriendly site. It's frustrating to get all of the ads and banners.
ReplyDeleteThe Snipping Tool within Windows 7 is one of my FAVORITES!
I am not terribly tech savvy when it comes to internet sites and tools so really appreciated Lisa's suggestions. I am developing an appreciation of the snipping tool. What I am really waiting for it the truly intuitive tech tool that can read my mind and understand what I want it to do and then does it---not asking for much but Kelley does say I am a bit of a dreamer!
ReplyDeleteI use google docs quite a bit. I find some of the limitations a bit frustrating but overall it is very helpful for collaborating and sharing bodies of information among multiple users.
I had seen a 'printfriendly' button on many recipe websites, but never realized it was a whole site that you could use for anything! Also, thanks for sharing SoundGecko! I cannot wait to try this out with my grad school articles! I also LOVE Google Docs. My cohort has pretty much converted to this completely and we share so many documents. I love using it for group projects so you don't have to keep track of 50 copies of a document - we are all working on the same one!
ReplyDeleteI like http://www.screenr.com/ I use it to "show AND tell" when I am giving instructions about computer use. The most common question from my family? "My search engine was hijacked! How do I get Google back?" It's not hard to do, but it is so much easier to make a quick video to show them than to talk to them on the phone ("...no, the upper right corner but not all the way in the corner; the corner of the window that should be open...").
ReplyDeleteThese are great! I think I'll be able to use them all in the next week. As for Drive, many of my friends and colleagues already know how much I like to use it :)
ReplyDeleteI like to use the free version of PDF Xchange (free download) because it allows me to edit (by creating a layer on top) pdf files to add my signature, extra text, or arrows. It essentially gives you many tools to annotate pdf documents. It allows me to not print and sign and eliminates a few steps for me when working with pdfs.
That PrintFriendly sounds great! I put the tool on my toolbar already.
ReplyDeleteAs for audio versions of web content, I will bookmark that for my students. It may be helpful when reading difficult material, which they do all term in Rhetorical Theory and Practice!
This is great! Thank you for sharing. I will definitely be checking out SoundGecko within the next week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I like Christy's suggestion for when my mom calls me (AGAIN) for computer troubleshooting.
ReplyDeleteI always like to see these kinds of usefull tools. I never discover any of them on my own. Too used to doing things "the same ole way".
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