Useful Technology Resources

The following are technology tools that are very useful for teaching, learning, and research. For more information on the use of these tools, please visit the Teaching and Learning Support Center.

Social Networking & Communications

• Podcasting - A general overview of what podcasting can do for you and your students.
• Technology for Teaching - Links to resources for free teacher-friendly software.
• ERIC - The Educational Resources Information Center, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, produces an online database of journal and non-journal education literature.
• Skype - Skype provides voice over IP (VOIP) technology that allows users to call each other using their computers. Skype also allows users to call from their computers to land and cell phones around the world as part of the Skype Out feature. Skype Out is significantly cheaper than traditional international calls.
• iChat - This software allows instant text messaging and high quality video conferencing for Mac users (see example of iChat in a virtual violin lesson)
• MSN Messenger - This software is the PC version of iChat, providing text messaging and video conferencing
• LinkedIn - LinkedIn.com is a free service that allows users to request information from other users around the world through mutual contacts.

Reference Resources

• Wikipedia - Thousands of users are constantly updating the worlds only "living" encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Content on Wikipedia is in the public domain and thus may be used, copied, and edited without restrictions.
• MERLOT - Collection of multimedia examples created by teachers for use in the classroom.
• EndNote - An excellent resource for formatting and organizing references for publications.

Search Resources

• Google Desktop Search - By downloading this tool, you can find files in your computer by searching for the text contained within the files and the file metadata, not only the title.
• Blinkx Desktop Search - A search tool, similar to Google Desktop Search, designed for Mac OS users.
• Google Scholar - A special Google search engine focused on research publications and scholarly works.
• Search Inside a Book - Amazon.com offers a huge collection of books from its site that can be searched for content before purchasing
• Google News Alerts - Receive notification of news events based on your customized keywords. Notification of news events come on an immediate, weekly, or monthly basis.