Zoho

 

What it is: Zoho is a free office productivity suite. Zoho Writer is an online word processor with collaboration features. There is no download or install, just sign up to start creating documents. Zoho Sheet is an online spreadsheet application where students can create and share spreadsheets on the web. Zoho Show is an online presentation tool to create, edit, publish and show presentations. Zoho Notebook allows you to create, aggregate, and collaborate on content online. Zoho Planner is an online organizer to maintain your todo’s, reminders, notes, and attachments. Zoho Meeting allows for desktop sharing, web conferencing, online meetings, and remote assistance.

How to integrate Zoho into your classroom: Zoho is an amazing tool. Use in place of office suites that require expensive licensing. What is helpful for the classroom is the ability for students to collaborate on projects. Students can begin a project at school and easily access it later at home.

Tips: Sign up requires an email address, if your students do not have an email address, set up a special email account just for Zoho (you can set up one email address that all students use, as long as they have different usernames this shouldn’t be a problem.)

 

 

Think Free

 

 

What it is: A FREE online alternative to Microsoft Office with 1GB of online storage for each user, online document collaboration, document viewer, and Think Free docs.

How to integrate Think Free into your curriculum: Think Free is not only a great way to get a complete word processor into your classroom, it also allows you to assign homework to students, and know that they students have the proper tools to get the job done. Students can easily collaborate on projects using Think Free. The best part? Students can access their files and the applications they need from any connected computer. Students can also create spreadsheets and presentations (like PowerPoint) for free.

Tips: Think Free is a great tool for you too! Instead of transferring files back and forth on a flash drive or CD, use Think Free for your word processing needs (lesson plans, class materials, homework) and access on your connected home computer. Easy!

 

 

Think.com

 

 What it is: Think.com is a FREE online community for learning. Learning is social, think.com engages and inspires students by providing a wider (but protected) audience. It turns students into multimedia authors for their classmates and allows them to think and learn together. This is more than a blog and safe! Only teachers and students from your school can enter this password protected learning community (or you can open it up a little so that other schools can communicate with yours… like pen pals). Think.com allows members to use websites and interactive tools to publish their ideas, collaborate on projects, and build knowledge together.

How to integrate think.com into your curriculum: Think.com is incredibly motivational for students. It can be integrated into any subject and any curriculum. Give students a writing assignment and have them brainstorm together on think.com. Have them post projects they have been working on and encourage them to view each others projects and sites (you won’t have to prompt too much!) Students will use this tool outside of school and naturally extend learning on their own. They can create their own “homework help” pages where they are the expert. Learning a new language? Think.com offers the interactive learning tool to thousands of schools around the world in 8 languages, get real world language experience for your students! This tool is really limitless and can be used with students as young as second grade.

Tips: Think.com has tutorials for teachers, you can quickly and easily learn how to use the tool. Think.com also offers teacher-created lesson plans that incorporate think.com.