Libreoffice A Free Great Alternative to Microsoft Office Suite

Libreoffice is a free open source office suit software that you can download and install for free. This is my favourite office suite and  I even prefer it over the Open Office. Libreoffice has a set of writing and editing tools that resemble  Microsoft Office.So if you already know how to open an office and write a document or spreedsheet then you will find Libreoffice way easier.

Libreoffice is free and there is no fear of copyright infringements. It works on almost all the major operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux ( Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Suse,...)

Some features of Libreoffice

Here is a set of the main features that Libreoffice offers to its users :
It is free
It requires a download
It is available in several languages
It has LGPL public license
It is user friendly
It has an intuitive interface that you can easily customize
It is compatible with all major competitor file formats
It lets you import files from Microsot  Word, Excel and PowerPoint and many other formats, and can easily save to Microsoft Office and other formats when needed.


Head over to Libreoffice and give it a try

Pencamp – Free writing and publishing platform

Pencamp is a great web tool. It is a writing and publishing platform that allows its users to write a story, a poem, or even just a joke and share it with others. Users can create as many pages as they can and it does not require any special skills to create a page. Pencamp looks like a blogging platform but it is not , it is rather a publishing platform where you can share informational articles and stories about particular topics.

Some features of Pencamp

Here is a list of the main features that Pencamp offers to its users:

• It is free


• It is easy to use


• It has a user-friendly interface


• It allows its users ti write whatever they want and publish it


• It lets you create as many pages as you like


• It does not require any sign up


• It does not allow commenting

How can i get started using Pencamp ?

To start using this writing tool you need to :

1. Head over to Pencamp main page


2. Enter a name for your page


3. Specify a password for editing


4. Start writing

Applications of Pencamp in education

Pencamp is one of the best alternatives to Blogs , students will be able to create their own pages easily and quickly without any  registration. They can work in groups to write articles on a specific topic and share them with the rest of the class.

If you want to explore other writing tools for your students then i invite you to visit Educational Writing Tools.

The best converting and writing tools

Here is a list of the best converting and writing tools that you can use in your classroom with your students

I : Converting Tools :

• Bee PDF : Upload , Embed, and share your PDFs onli...
• HTML to PDF ; Convert Webpages into PDFs
• cometdocs; free file conversion
• Docspal : free converter and document viewer
• Free Online Converter :Convert media files online into any t...
• Blogbooker : Turn an educative blog into pdf book...
• Zamzar : the best file converting web2.0 tool in e...
• Cute PDF Writer : convert easily your documents in education...
•  
• II : Writing Tools :
  
  
  
  
• Study Boost ; Learn Through Instant Text Messaging...
• citebite : educators’web2.0 tool for creating and publishing quotes
• Jottit : a new collaborative space for your students
• Short Text : the educative web posting
• AnyTypos: a good spell checker for your classroom
• Entri :a good collaborative writing tool for educa... 
• QuiteWrite : A quite place for writing

•  

The best free educational typing apps- learn typing easily

If you are spending a considerable amount of time in front of your computer trying to write a short email to your friend then you need to consider your typing skills. and if it happens that you are an educator like us then you MUST reconsider your touch typing habits immediately. This is the 21 st century and teaching and learning have evolved so rapidly that we need technology in every move we make. There is no excuse for you not to master your keyboard or even your touch screen if you are using a mobile device. Yes now it is the age of mobile learning which means that computers and laptops are taking the backseat. I am not trying to frustrate you but rather stress upon the importance of something that many people do not pay attention to.



For us in education , its the means that justify the ends. we need internet in our daily work and the first gate to this virtual world is the keyboard. The more we master typing skills the better our interaction with this world becomes. Given this huge importance of touch typing for educators i decided to assemble a short list of the best online applications that can in a short span of time make a difference in your typing experience. Be it a simple beginner or just a curious person looking forward to develop his/her typing speed, these free typing apps can help you improve the accuracy and the overall typing speed. You will eventually learn how to type fast with both hands using all of your fingers without looking at the keyboard. Remember, It might take anywhere from  a couple of weeks to 2-3 months before you master your keyboard and believe  me it will all pay off in the long run.

Here are the best apps you need to consider when improving your typing skills.

10-Fast-Fingers
I have already covered this application in an earlier post entitled 10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing. This tools allows its users to test their typing speed to find out how fast they type and where they position themselves against others……. read more in 10-Fast-Fingers tutorial.

TypeRacer
TypeRacer is an online speed typing game. It allows its users to race each other by typing quotes from books, movies, and songs. It is the first multiplayer typing game on the web. This is a sort of competitive game where you have to type accurately and fast to get your car to the end point before the others. It is a real time game that you will enjoy so much.
Here is a video tutorial to learn more about TypeRacer ( the guy in the video really amazes me )

Keybr
Keybr is a tool for touch typing practice. It allows its users to improve their typing speed togther with typing without having to look at the keyboard. There are several layout to choose from , select the one you want and there you go.

You can choose from three basic lessons that start with a certain number of keys on the keyboard, and then, as you progress through the lessons, more keys are introduced to the mix to make things a little tougher. As an added bonus, our software keeps track of all your mistakes and your words–per–minute (wpm) — and even creates graphs of your day–by–day performance.

TypeFaster
TypeFaster is a tool that teaches you how to touch type fast uisng a set of free typing tutorials. This program comes in three version: Standard, Accessible and Spanish. The Standard version is the ideal one so far for it has quite many interesting features such as:

• It supports multiple keyboard layouts


• It offers a clear indication of which fingers to use


• It has multi user support


• It also offers different versions for single user, multi user and multi user with teacher support.

Head over to TypeFaster to learn more.

Typing Lessons Online
Typing Lessons Online is a free touch typing program that allows its users to type fast using their ten fingers. It offers free and interactive typing lessons and exercises for all levels. It will help you :

• Learn touch typing online


• Learn which fingers correspond to which keyboard keys


• Improve your error rate and typing speed

Here is a video tutorial to show you how to use Typing Lessons Online

TypingWeb
Typing Web is a free web service that allows its users to learn fast typing through a series of comprehensive keyboarding lessons and games. This application covers the three levels: beginner, advanced, and special. Just choose the one that suits you and there you go.
if you want to learn more here is a short video tutorial for you

I hope you will try some of these apps and it would be better if you consider  introducing them to your students and help them master the art of keyboarding.
I know there are many other web applications that can help you improve your typing speed but the ones mentioned above are among the best ones.

10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing

10-Fast-Fingers is a cool web application. It allows its users to test their typing speed to find out how fast they type and where they position themselves against others. In an earlier post entitled Radial- speed up typing on iPad, i talked about how  this mobile app can speed up your typing and help you save your time. As educators, we need to be in a good position to type in quickly and get what we want from the keyboard very easily. I know not one of us was born a good and fast ‘typer’ but practice makes better.

10-Fast-Fingers will help you achieve that purpose. Do not forget this tool alone is not enough but i will be soon providing you with extra tools to help you out. I was a very slow typist and sometimes it would be a source of embarrassment for me to type in a meeting or a conference because it would take me forever to finish what i would type but with perseverance and hard work i become now a very good keyboard handler.

Some features of 10-Fast-Fingers

here is a list of the main features that 10-Fast-Fingers offers to its users:

• It is free to use
• It is easy and simple
• It does not require any download or sign up
• It measures your touch typing speed
• It lets you share your results with others by embedding them onto your blog or personal webpage
• It supports German, French, Spanish, Catalan, Turkish, Russian, Swedish, & Italian languages.

How can i get started using 10-Fast-Fingers ?

As i said before , it is very easy to use all you need to do is:

1. Head over to 10-Fast-Fingers main page
2. Start typing in the box displayed there for you
3. When the time is over it will show you the typing spee along with your rank among people who took the test

That’s it about 10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing .

Short Text : the educative web posting

Short Text is another great web2.0 tool suggested by B’s Life with English .It is a simple tool to publish text online with no sign up or sign in . It is really very practically useful and all  you need to do to post your text to others  is an internet connection .

Some features of Short Text

Here are the key features that underly ShortText service :

• It is completely free with a premium version for more functionalities
• It is very simple, quick and user-friendly
• It does not require any sign up or sign in
• The URL you generate for your text lives for one year and if visited during this one year then it would live longer
• You can make your URL private
• You can share your URL with whomever you want
• It has a useful Firefox extension to help you instantly post your text
• It allows linking to vidoes or images
• You can also active the “ allow comments” service to interact with your visitors .

How can i get started using Short Text ?

Log on to Short Text main page

Type or paste your text in the box and select your privacy settings and enter the captcha letters then hit “ create URL”

Here is some of the ideas Short Text engineers provided on the different ways Short Text can be used :

• innstant blogging.
• Throwing a party? Post the details here and share the url with your friends (remember to make the post private).
• Want to provide more information about yourself or your company in forums/email/visiting cards/banners? shortText it and put a link.
• People always bug you for directions to your office or home? shortText it and just provide the link to whoever needs it (make it private).
• Instant message has a size limit? Quickly shortText it and IM the url.
• Emails getting filtered out at work? shortText the content of the email and just send the url.
• Store hard-to-remember information online.
• Publish code, research work, ideas, rants and raves; quickly.
• shortText anything which you find yourself typing again and again.
• shortText short lived webpage content which you would have to save locally otherwise. Find it later by searching for relevant keywords.

To learn more about Short Text you need to visit their FAQ page
That’s it about Short Text : The Educative Web Posting.
You might also like :

21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of

Bubblesnaps in education

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

Jottit : a new collaborative space for your students

Jottit is another great web2.0 tool that is similar to Entri and which i have known about from B’s Life with English. It allows its users to create pages and posts just as if they are creating their own posts . These pages can be edited and shared with other people .I think you need to give this website a shot to see how marvelous it is .

Some features of Jottit

Jottit is a very handy and “ smart” web2.0 application that is :

• Completely free
• does not require any sign up
• It allows you to create a web page in a matter of seconds
• it has a sophisticated set of authoring tools
• It allows you to customize the look of your page the way you want
• It also lets you add videos and other multimedia tools to  your page
• You can create as many pages as you want
• You can finally share your page with the rest of the world .

How can i get started using Jottit ?

Log on to Jottit main page

and write your posts and click on “ create a page”
you will be directed to the page where you can edit what you have previously written by clicking on edit .
If you don't like the design then click on “ design “ to change the color and the fonts

setting is where you can add

• title
• subtitle
• choose a custom URL so that you can find your site later

if you are done with editing then click on “claim it”
By clicking on “ claim it “ you will be able to :

• give your site a password
• provide an email address where you can retrieve the password if forgotten
• set the privacy setting of your website

Applications of Jottit in education

Jottit is a very practical tool that we can use in our teaching . We can , for example , use it to share educative YouTube videos with our students . You can also use it to collaborate with your colleagues . Students , on their parts, can use it to work on  a classroom project with each one contributing to the page before they share it with the rest of the class.
That’s it about Jottit : a new collaborative space for your students .

You might also like :

21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of

Bubblesnaps in education

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

Entri :a good collaborative writing tool for educators

Entri is a new web2.0 tool for writing . I learnt about this from B's life with English which is a blog i like so much . Entri is a free collaborative tool for writing and sharing documents . It allows you to write your drafts and share them with your friends to get feedback before you publish them .

Some features of Entri

Entri is a web2.0 application that is :

• completely free .
• simple and easy to use .
• student friendly with no ads .
• doe not need any registration .
• uses twitter account if you want to share your writings.
• building an API that allows its users to flip between past Entris they have made .
• It has a sophisticated text editor with better formatting features .

How can i get started using Entri ?

Log on to Entri main page
click on “ create your entri button”

and you will be directed to this page

now you can start writing your text . Use the authoring tools on top of the box .
If you want to share your piece of writing then you need to click on “ sign in with twitter” on top right side corner .

Applications of Entri in education

Entri is a very good web2.0 tool that we can use with our students . You can have them write their own essays and submit them to you for correction before getting the final version . Entri is also useful when you have a blog or website for the classroom where students contribute with their own posts . They can use it to share with their teachers the draft posts and learn from their mistakes before they publish their posts . It can also be used in classroom projects where students work collaboratively to prepare for assignments .
That’s it about Entri :a good collaborative writing tool for educators .

You might also like :

21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of

Bubblesnaps in education

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

the alphabetizer : organize students’ writings

The Alphabetizer is a cool web2.0 tool . It is an application that put any list in alphabetical order and enables you to print it . I personally find it very useful ; it helps me organize my writings with the minimum time possible . In fact , this is one of  the benefits of using some web2.0 tools in education .They are both very effective when it comes to time saving and also practical in the organization of one’s work .There are also 3 other relevant tools that I have already talked about in my previous posts which I think might be of relevant interest for you . Lear more in :
AnyTypos : good spell checker for your classroom
Quietwrite : a quiet place for writing
Typewith.me : write collaboratively

Some features of The Alphabetizer

Here is a set of some features that The Alphabetizer provides for its users :
1- strip the html



2- ignore case



3- make all lower case

 

4- capitalize first word



5- remove duplicators



6- reverse list
Simply sorts the list alphabetically then turns it on its head.
7- randomize
Just a fun little tool for randomizing each entry.
8- ignore indefinite articles



9- ignore definite articles 



I hope you like this web2.0 tool , just make sure you give it a shot with your students and help them get going . Best of Luck

You might also like :

• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Soshiku: a great organizational tool in education
• TrackClass : the best way to organize your students' work
• Voki : a fun and free animated avatar tool
• The 21st century teachers should have
• Alarmtube and schooltube in education
• QuiteWrite: a quite place for writing
• Multiurl : combine multiple urls into one short link
• Dushare : unlimited file share in education
• Weblist : teacher's dynamic content sharing site
• TrackClass : the best way to organize your students work
• SymbalooEdu : a student-friendly web2.0 tool

AnyTypos: a good spell checker for your classroom

AnyTypos is a very good web2.0 tool for students and teachers. It is an online spell checker . It enables its users to check their texts instantly and with  a single click. There are many applications and softwares that automatically spell correct as you write but what sets AnyTypos apart from all of them is its simplicity and user-friendly interface . Students will find it very practical and useful . They do not need to be tech savvy to use it .



AnyTypos works in such a way that would save you so much time and energy . All you need to do to check a text for spelling mistakes is to paste it into the box as shown in the example below and AnyTypos will automatically generates a list of words that contain the spelling errors and provides you with the correct equivalent to each mistake. These equivalents are placed under the box and are color highlighted.
Here is an example of how it works



Try Using it in your classroom with your students and encourage them to use it at home when preparing for a writing assignment.
Here is another web2.0 tool that is more or less similar to AnyTypos , this one is called typewith.me. It allows students to write collaboratively and peer correct each other online learn more in Typewith.me : writing collaboratively
If you need a quiet place where to concentrate on what you write without the least distraction then try  QuietWrtie , i have already talked about this in a single post at QuietWrite : a quiet place for writing
That’s it about AnyTypos: a good spell checker for your classroom.

You might also like :

• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Soshiku: a great organizational tool in education
• TrackClass : the best way to organize your students' work
• Voki : a fun and free animated avatar tool
• The 21st century teachers should have
• Alarmtube and schooltube in education
• QuiteWrite: a quite place for writing
• Multiurl : combine multiple urls into one short link
• Dushare : unlimited file share in education
• Weblist : teacher's dynamic content sharing site
• TrackClass : the best way to organize your students work
• SymbalooEdu : a student-friendly web2.0 tool

QuiteWrite : A quite place for writing

QuiteWrite is a free online editor . It is a quite place where you can bring your thoughts and words into harmony . Producing a good piece of writing needs so much focus , but this focus comes only where there is quietness and peacefulness around . Most of other word editors are crammed and cluttered and full of the unnecessary . QuiteWrite  is different in that it provides a peaceful writing workplace to think, to ponder and to dream .
You can use QuiteWrite  in the anonymous mode without signing up , but as I have already mentioned in my previous posts , if you want to really benefit from web 2.0 tools I am blogging about you need to open accounts with them . The process is easy and simple , and in case you do not want to be using your official email address for fear of spam and junk mail then you can use the temporary email services , they do the same job . You can try for example: tempinbox and mailinator

Why sign up with QuiteWrite  ?

If you want to use QuiteWrite  but do not want to sing up then you risk the following :

• Losing your writings when you switch browsers and computers
• You wont be able to publish any of your writings

So why not give it a minute and sign up !!

What are some of the features of QuiteWrite ?

Here are some of the features that make QuiteWrite  a friendly tool to be used with our students :

• Your work is automatically saved , every minute a revision of your work is saved
• You can review past revisions
• You can delete work from your past revisions
• Formatting options together with subsets of html are provided for your writing
• You can publish your work and share it with others
• You can interact with others through activating the respond option in your settings
• You can also export your writings to Wordpress

How can I start using QuiteWrite ?

Log on to QuiteWrite  and click on the new button on the top right and you will be directed to the word editor .

As you can see in the snapshot above there are five buttons :
The” revisions” button allows you to see your past revisions
The “settings” buttons for whether you want responses or not

The “review” button which allows you to see a preview of what your writing will look like when published
The “publish” button to publish your writing online .This option works only when you are signed up
The “export” button to export your writing to wordpress blog



By the way , there is also another important online word editor which is Typewith.me . This web2.0 tool is very useful in group work and classroom projects as it allows students to collaborate in writing a single piece of work , you can read more about it in Typewith.me: a quick educative online tool

Apllications of QuiteWrite in education

I personally think that QuiteWrite is a very essential tool for both teachers and students .Its simple and easy to use interface makes out of it the perfect kids and young learners .Students can use it to write their homework assignments , exercises and to review their each others’ writings .
Teacher assigns a topic to students and each one writes something on it then they activate the “respond” option to read each others works and interact through leaving responses on others pages
You can think of other ways to use it in the classroom and if you think you have other ideas or additions to what have already been mentioned here , then feel free to share them with us below .
That’s it about QuiteWrite : A quite place for writing

You might also like :

• Typewith.me: a quick educative online tool
• Alarmtube and Schooltube
• DispoasableWebPage in education
• Weblist: teacher's dynamic content sharing site
• Dushare : unlimited file transfer in education
• Wiggio ; the educative way to communicate
• the 21st century pedagogy teachers should be aware of
• Multiurl combine multiple url into one link