Academic Tech Tips

VoiceThread is a collaborative online application that enables users to share a multimedia slideshow and make comments, as part of a group conversation. Once a thread is created, contributing users can comment using text, a webcam, a microphone or even by telephone. With VoiceThread, a group discussion can be securely captured and stored in one […]

Ning is an online platform that allows you to create your own social network or join an existing one.  It’s a unique place to share your interests with other people online. By creating a Ning webpage, you can customize the look of your site and choose features to add, such as forums or media pages. […]

With Kwout, a Firefox Add-on, you can take screen shots of any Web page that you’d like to display as an image.  The distinguishing feature of Kwout is the use of an image map, which allows hyperlinks within the screen shot to remain active and clickable. The image above is an example of a screen shot taken using […]

As online tools such as blogs, Twitter and RSS feeds are becoming more widely used to share information, it’s helpful to know about resources that explain how these tools work, while still remaining interesting.  Common Craft’s In Plain English series provides fun and simple tutorials on several areas, including technology, money, society and the environment.  Each video […]

Creative Kit in Google+ (formerly known as Picnik and has since joined Google) is a free online photo-editing program that offers an array of professional and fun tools. This application provides numerous creative filters and effects such as cinemascope, focal B&W, vignette and many others. A few highlights of the program include: – Allows you to […]

When you are reading articles on the Web, you are generally getting information from one source at a time. It can be a challenge to determine not only what is accurate but to also find evidence for alternative points of view.  Dispute Finder, a new free online tool, provides alternative sources to disputed claims on […]

When surfing the Web, it’s all too common for us to find useful bits and pieces of information that we want to save and possibly share. We end up bookmarking tons of websites and forget about many of them — even if we have our bookmarks meticulously organized! With Clipboard, you can easily “clip” the […]

If you’re a booklover whose typical conversations with friends include the question, “Read any good books lately?,” finding new reading materials can be easier than you think. Goodreads is a free website that allows you to keep track of what you’ve read or are planning to read, write reviews, and see what your friends are […]

Many television networks now offer current program episodes on their individual websites, which is a good thing but may leave you weeding through numerous sites to find videos. Additionally, when searching across the Web, it can be a challenge to find T.V. episodes, video clips or movies that are available to users legally. The online […]

Now that you’ve got your latest vacation photos stored on your computer, your next question might be, “how can I share these photos with everyone?” Emailing photos has its limitations, especially if you have many pictures.  With Flickr, an online photo-sharing application, you can upload your photos to the site and create Groups to control […]