Thing 39: Productivity Tools

There are many great online tools that, while rather simple in scope, provide a quick and easy task that can make our technological lives simpler.  I have added four such tools to my “tool belt” from the list of tools included in Thing 39.

The first of these is One Tab.  This is a Google Chrome extension that is easy to add and allows you to save a list of tabs in a simple click of the button, saving the need to keep several tabs open at once.  It claims to save up to 95% with memory and allows you to access the list where you can share the tabs as a website, save the tabs, delete them, or restore them again.  The only drawback I found to this extension is that it currently is not available for mobile devices- a bummer, but hoping a version will come out soon that applies.  Students certainly could benefit from the use of this tool as well as teachers.

The second tool I used is We Transfer.  This works in Windows and as an Ios app- personally I liked the Windows version better.  With We Transfer, you can transfer files up to 2G in size.  This works great for photos, which I have many times tried to send via email and they are too large to transfer.  There is no set-up to use this tool, just plug in the address of where you want it to go, attach the files, and send.

Included in the SuperTeacher tools is a tool called Instant Jeopardy Review.  This tool does exactly what the title says- allows you to create a jeopardy-style game to use in the classroom for students.  You can create review games for any subject, and the product is very straightforward in creating your questions, topics, and answers.  I teach classes in Family/Consumer Science, and I was able to quickly create a Jeopardy game that I can use in the next two weeks with students to allow them to review for their final test.

The final tool I explored was SafeShare TV.  This tool allows you to copy and paste the URL’s for online videos ( YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and then have the video transferred into a “safe view,” free from commercials and other potentially inapproriate content.  Since many people turn to YouTube and Vimeo for video content today to use in the classroom, this is a handy tool to access.  You simply go to their website, paste in the address for the video you want to use, click “generate safe view,” and then submit.  The video appears ready for play, or you can copy and embed the link provided for asafeview version.

All of the above tools are handy, easy-to-use, and quick time savers for a teacher on the go!