A benefit of being a scholar is that education and production of academic work can happen outside of the classroom. Netbooks are making the transition to remote work easier, but why spend a bundle on software that takes up valuable space on your netbooks hard drive and costs a fortune?
Here are my top 25 free net based applications to use in school:
- Gmail – Everyone should have gmail. And forget the folder system of 1990. Follow the three box system and Get Everything Done.
- GoogleDocs – Google Documents. Store it all here and and always have access.
- Google Voice -Since its free, its an easy way to call anyone.
- Backboard – Dofferent from the Blackboard for education, this blackboard lets you share reports and drafts before you publish them.
- EndnoteWeb – Students and scholars use citations in everything we write. Endnote is the leading citation manager and also has a free web version.
- Picasa – a great place to store (and share) photos for class.
- RememberTheMilk – Best web based to-do list manager out there. set up a list per class and you will never forget anything.
- Plagiarism Detect – Plagarism detection. Also a good way to make sure you are citing appropriately.
- WriteCheck – A second plagarism detection site… for professors that are extra concerned about students that seem to have an instantly larger and poetic vocabulary.
- Evernote – store everything here. Evernote automatically indexes what you have making it easier to find.
- Flickr – another great storage site for photos and videos.
- Pandora – this keeps you sane while you work
- Wimba Pronto -a great way to hold office hours with students
- Skype -one of many basic video and voice services you need to communicate when off site.
- Video Ant – Add text annotation to video. This may seem new, but students love it.
- TED Applications – Need an interesting topic or video for a presentation? TED can rescue you.
- RefWorks -A popular reference manager
- Toms Planner – a must have Gantt planner for large projects (including earning a PhD.
- OpenOffice – the best alternative to Microsoft Word
- Amazon – self publish your work and earn cash from your sales.
- Amazon Cloud Storage – 5 Gigs of free storage. fantastic.
- DropBox – sync material between computers. A great resource for sharing large files
- Boxify.me -lets you share material
- FaxZero – a great site to use when you need to send the occasional fax.
- Wiggio – Is a free version of Basecamp, that is good for coordinating projects. I’ve used in large million dollar research grants and while it lacks some tools, its growing daily (and offers free conference calling)
Do you use other cloud-based services or have one that I can review? If you do, please comment!