LiveBinders

LiveBinders

 

Organization is the key word that you should associate with the LiveBinders website. LiveBinders is all about the organization of resources, easy access to that material, and the convenient presentation of that material.

A LiveBinder can be thought of as the online information technology age's answer to the oldschool three ring binder. A binder allows you to collect, organize, and present a variety of electronically stored information such as; websites, documents, e-publications, pictures, videos, and any other form of electronic media that could be embedded in a website.

Binders that you create at the LiveBinder website reside in the cloud and can therefore be accessed from any computer that has access to the internet and that has a web browser.

Binders can be organized into libraries and into shelves within that library. The binders can be private or they can be shared publicly. They can be individually authored or can be cooperatively authored.

The first 100MB of storage is free, with a 5MB per file limit. You can increase your personal storage limit to 50MB, with 25MB per file limit for under $30 for a year. For half that an educator will receive a 500MB storage limit.

Below the LiveBinder image I have included an example of a LiveBinder used for our daily review of regional weather information that is available from numerous sources.

 

 

Weather LiveBinder

Study Guides and Strategies

 

www.studygs.net

Have you ever found yourself in need of direction in your studies?  Well, I was there today and turned to Google for help.  What I found during my search was the Study Guides and Strategies website. 

The site, which was first authored by Joe Landsberger in 1996,  is an international, learner-centric, educational public service.  It boasts 255 topics presented in 39 languages.  The site is intended to be used by  middle school students through returning adults, as well as by parents, teachers and support professionals.  "Its resources are intended to empower all learners without regard to institutional and national boundaries; cultural mores and religious beliefs; race, gender and sexual rientation."  (studygs.net)

The website's copyright disclaimer is very liberal; "Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt, and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners." (studygs.net)

Apache Open Office

 

Are you in need of office automation software that will allow you to do word processing, create spreadsheets, develop presentations, manipulate graphics, and manage databases?
 

So, what do you get when you ask Google to find you "office software"?
 

Well it should not be a surprise that at the top of the list is the link to office.microsoft.com. In addition to that listing I found myself assailed by advertisements for the sale of the Microsoft product.
 

What may just be a surprise is that the second listing is to openoffice.org. So, what is Open Office?
 

"Apache Open Office is an open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works in all common computer operating systems (MS Windows and Apple Mac OS). It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages."
 

Most significantly - "it can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."
 

Before I continue I feel that I must disclose to you that I am and have been a user of Microsoft Office user since version 1.0 in 1990. I remember my first PC build in 1985 and the first time I installed Windows version 1.0 on the MS-DOS operating system. What a novelty that was, finally there was an interface that was more than just text lines. I can’t say that I was ever a Microsoft zealot, but until recently I simply felt that there was really no other choice other than the Microsoft line of products.
 

The naïve view of mine has been dramatically in the past eight months.  I went back to school where I was forced into a computer lab filled with Mac desktop computers.  It was an opportunity, or should I say an excuse to jump ship and leave the MS PC world.  The truth be told, I was ready to desert and had been for years.  I won’t go into the reasons why, if you are a MS products user you already know why I was ready to find another way.

 

 

Out I went and immediately bought myself a Mac Book.  What I did with it was simply horrible.  While purchasing the Mac Book I decided that I had to have what I knew MS Office.  So I purchased MS Office 365 when I bought the Mac Book.
 

That decision was so clearly flawed that when I look back on it I just can’t understand what possessed me to make that purchase.  Perhaps my excuse should be that I did not know that I had an alternative.
 

Well I did have an alternative and so do you!  That alternative is Apache Open Office.  I found it to be uber easy to find, download, and install.  I have also found that it is more than adequate in its default installation.  It is also intuitive to use with a very gentle learning curve.

www.openoffice.org 

 

Open Source

 

"In production and development, open source as a development model promotes a) universal access via free license to a product's design or blueprint, and b) universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone." (Wiki)

 

 

Alternative Office Suites

 

 www.libreoffice.org

 

 www.neooffice.org

docs.google.com

www.kde.org