Tools for Education and Learning
These documents contain information about a variety of tools and services available to the Rutgers community and the public. The documents are focused on how the tools can be used in an educational setting and how to get started using them.
Communication
Social Media
- Twitter: a micro-blogging service that allows users to post short messages from the web or their cell phones
- Facebook: a network that allows people to connect with friends and acquaintances, chat, and share photos
- LinkedIn: a network that revolves around making connections with professional acquaintances, posting job listings, and finding jobs and internships
- Tumblr: a blogging service that allows users to post messages and multimedia and follow the postings of other users
- Google+: a social network by Google that lets users share messages and photos and follow other users’s postings
Group Chat / IM
- Sakai Chat: a tool within Sakai that lets users send real-time messages back and forth
- Instant Messaging Tools: a set of tools for holding live conversations
- GroupMe: an instant messaging service that works on all mobile phones, smartphones or otherwise
Video
- Skype: an online voice and video chatting service that allows users to call other Skype users as well as telephones
- ooVoo: a professional videoconferencing tool for holding meetings remotely
- FaceTime: a video calling service by Apple for use with Macs, iPhones, and iPads
- Ustream: a service for holding online webcasts for broad audiences and video chatting
Forums
- Sakai Discussion & Private messages: a tool that allows site members to engage in structured communication
- ProBoards: A free forum tool that allows users to create their own online community and participate in discussions
- Aimoo: a forum tool that allows users to post messages and have message boards
Blogging
- WordPress: a versatile, user-friendly blogging service with a simple dashboard for adding posts and managing user contributions
- Blogger: a simple blogging service by Google that offers you ways to monetize your blog
RSS Feeds
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Tools: tools that let you subscribe to updates from many modern websites
- Google Reader: a web-based tool for subscribing to updates from your favorite websites
Data Collection
Polls
- Poll Everywhere: an instant audience feedback web technology system that allows for real-time responses via mobile devices
- Sakai Polls: allows users to quickly and easily create surveys in order to judge the opinions of site participants
- i>clicker: A wireless radio frequency classroom response system that allows students to engage in classroom discussions and lectures
Surveys
- Sakai Tests & Quizzes: a tool within Sakai that allows site participants to create and/or take tests, quizzes, and surveys
- Zoomerang: a tool for conducting surveys online
- SurveyMonkey: a tool that can be used to create surveys and collect data online
Forms
- Google Forms: a free service that allows users with Gmail accounts to create surveys, registration forms, polls, etc.
Presentation
- Animoto: a web-based presentation creator that makes stunning videos from uploaded images, video clips, and music
- Captivate: an electronic learning tool for Microsoft Windows, and from v.5 Mac OS X which can be used to author software demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, and randomized quizzes in .swf format
- Photo Story: software that helps you create media-rich videos for presentations with custom music and visual effects
- Prezi: a web-based presentation application tool which uses a single canvas instead of traditional slides
- SlideRocket: an online web tool that is used to create dynamic slide-based presentations
Screen Capturing
- Camtasia: a screen capturing software for Windows and Macs
- ScreenFlow: a screen capturing and video editing software for Mac
- Jing: a screencasting application that takes screenshots and/or videos of the user’s computer screen
- Wink: a free screen capture program, usually used for tutorial and presentation creation software
- TubeChop: allows you to easily “chop” any portion of a YouTube video and share it
Screen Sharing
- join.me: is a simple, lightweight screen sharing application that allows you to share what you see on your computer with others
- Screenr: allows the user to create and share screen-casts across the web
Information Graphic Generation
- easel.ly: an online tool that lets users create info-graphics using a library of themes and utilities
- infogr.am: an online web tool that is used to create info-graphics
Online Collaboration
- Google Drive: a cloud storage service that is also the new home to the Google Docs suite of tools
- Dipity: a free web app that allows you to create and share interactive timelines
- Lino: a free sticky and canvas service that requires nothing but a web browser
- BigMarker: a fully-online collaboration space that provides social networking, collaboration and cloud-based tools geared towards a classroom environment
- Twiddla: a web-based “meeting playground” that allows users to collaborate online, either through a blank canvas or while browsing the web
Professor Aids
- Dropbox: a service that allows users to store files in the cloud and access them from anywhere
- Mozilla Thimble: an online-based web design application that allows users to code, edit, and preview HTML and CSS with ease
- tildee: an online tool that allows users to create easy to share tutorials with their peers
- ShowMe: a free iPad application that allows users to create and record presentations using a virtual whiteboard, then upload and share them with the world
- Understoodit: application that allows instructors to measure their students’ understanding in real-time
- Zamzar: allows the user to convert online files for free and without any software to download
Note Organization
- Evernote: a cloud-based note-taking application that allows you to take notes on any device and have them synced at all times
- inClass: an application for an iPhone or iPad that organizes school work, schedules, etc. and allows you to take notes with video, audio, and photos
- Easybib: short for Easy Bibliography, is a handy web based tool for automatically creating citations for academic and professional papers
- RefWorks: an online reference manager that allows users to import citations directly from databases and build a bibliography following common styles and formats
- MindMaple: a visual organizer application that aids in project management, brainstorming, and task scheduling
- Quizlet: a web application for creating and storing digital flash cards
Accessibility Tools
- TextAloud: an application that converts text from sources like emails, documents, and eBooks to audible speech on your computer
- LiveScribe: a computerized pen that allows students to record the audio from a lesson while simultaneously taking written notes that synchronize with the audio
Time Management
- RescueTime: an application that tracks how you spend your time on the computer in order to answer the question “Where did the time go?”