As we said earlier, there are many to-do list options and services online and you can find one to meet your needs. Here is another good one: Remember the Milk.
Here is a screen shot of my own setup. In addition, here is a really helpful video that very quickly goes over some of the pluses in this system. Prepare to be annoyed by the abrasive music, but stick with it:
Remember the Milk is really flexible, free, and nice to look at. It is organized using tabs (like file folders) and you can even make smart lists (lists culled from other lists that you set up by specifying how/why something belongs on that list). You can even use RTM offline and then sync when you go back online.
It's social too- you can share tasks with friends or colleagues.
The down side is that the mobile app will cost you an upgrade to the "Pro" account online, but the cost isn't too much ($20/year). Your mobile app can then be synced with the online version and vice versa. If you are looking to get organized and this interface appeals to you, give it a try. Remember the Milk has a lot of fans!
The vast array of tools out there can surely be confusing. These folks have done a great job of making some sense out of them! Have a look around, and if you'd like more, click on the "index" tag in the tag cloud on the right hand side of your screen for some other options.
Colleen Dilenschneider over at the "Know Your Own Bone" blog has written an interesting post detailing the importance of social media engagement by museums and how the increased transparency of social media use has impacted non-profits. This definitely has relevance to education and our educational institutions. Have a look: The Classics: 3 Ways Museums Have Paved the Way in Online Transparency
You're ready to dive in the deep end of Social Media with your colleagues or in your classroom. What about copyright? Most of us don't know enough, but it's possible to learn. If only someone would put it together for us in a digestible form online. Oh, WAIT! Someone HAS!
Georgia K. Harper, at University of Texas, put together the Crash Course in Copyright and it is available to you 24/7/365, and totally free. It's a great resource for you, your colleagues and students. How lucky are we? Yes, that lucky.
So, you're ready to go exploring online and pick out a few shiny, new toys. Where to start? Try Go2Web20, an online (visual) index for tools and applications that could really help you find a few gems. To narrow things down, click the tags of interest on the right (or click "Show All Tags" at the bottom to see, well... all of them). You'll find SOMEthing worth taking home!
Another good resource is Brandon Uttley's mindmap "Social Media Framework" (clickable) found at MindMeister.com. Go here: Social Media Framework
You've heard of Linked In, but are you on it? Should you be? Linked In is like Facebook for Careers. Rather than being purely social with some professional life thrown in, Linked In is professional life with some sociability thrown in! On Linked In you can gather recommendations, give recommendations, maintain professional relationships, and help mentor recent students on their way up the food chain. Here is a video that explains Linked In:
And another that goes over the how's and why's of Linked In:
So, join Linked In and get connected (to other grown ups)!
Oh, you've been there. It'd be easiest if you could actually share what is going on right on your screen, but how? Skitch is the answer. Importantly, it is FREE. Almost as importantly, it is EASY to use. You can grab screens, notate on them either with type or a drawing tool, and then use the images how you see fit. Simple. Go here to download (I would!): Skitch, you fool!
Then watch, quickly, how to use it. You'll never look back. Well, you might, but only to capture, notate and share. ;-)
Sure, you've got your Day Planner® and your iCal® and your pads of paper strewn about the office, but have you considered taking your "to-do" list electronic? There are lots of great options for this and lots of reasons it might make sense for you to have a to-do list online and on your iPhone, 'Berry, or other palm device (you can't misplace the electronic list, for one thing, you can set reminders for yourself for another, and it leaves your calendar for appointments only, giving you a better picture of how you're spending your time).
There are tons of options, so I'll begin with my favorite few and add from there. If any of them sound interesting or helpful, give 'em a try. You have nothing to lose... anymore.
My current list-making app in "heavy rotation" is Nozbe, and here is a screen shot of my own system, right NOW:
Highlight Reel: I can organize items by Project, by Project Label ("tags" to you and me) or "Contexts," or, where the list item needs to take place. I can upload documents (not viewable online, but can be downloaded again later), can access Nozbe through a dedicated iPhone app as well, AND can link to my Evernote account (and we LOVE Evernote!). I can also "share" items here with selected workmates, but, really, I use Nozbe just in a desperate bid to keep myself organized (and use other project software/cloudware for those team projects). There's lots more, so go here: Nozbe Visual Tour
Or watch the first intro video here:
This video will show you how the system works (it's easy). Like most things online, there is a free version and a version that is more robust that costs. Figure out what works for you, and get organized!
This great little online book, illustrated by the incomparable (and oh-so-schmart) Christoph Niemann, will put you in-the-know in no time. At your next faculty meeting, or council of Deans, you will shine like no other as you bandy about terms like "Javascript" and "CSS" and actually know what they mean! Seriously. There is also some sweet animation, so go take a look:
And you can. With this online service that also has a matching desktop client for you as well as an app for your iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc. Oh, and it's free. It's ALL FREE: Evernote
You can clip text, webpages, photos (I used it to photograph and file business cards) and more. Then you can organize your saved material into Notebooks (their name for folders) and tag items as well to further organize. It looks kinda like this once yer rockin' and rollin':
Like many other online services there IS a paid version with more bells and whistles, but you get all of Evernote's functionality in the free version along with plenty of uploading activity each month for free. Oh, and in terms of "keepin' it social," you can "share" notebooks or e-mail your notes to others. Here are a pair of videos to get you started using Evernote. Try it!:
No more math! No, seriously. You can weight projects, work with either letter grades, points or percentages, take roll/attendance, and on and on. Then, at that fateful moment at the end of the semester, it's all calculated for you, so you won't have to stay up all night wondering if your math skills will stand up in court. Beautiful!
See a demo about Snap Grades here: http://snapgrades.com/web/demo.php
There are several free scheduling programs/services online, but When is Good, saved my life and a LOT of paper! It's simple, straightforward and just works.
When is Good allows you to develop and event and send out a call to participants via e-mail. They respond, and the computer finds the "times in common" for you and the group! And you see it as a chart. I know! Super.
Illustrators and clients are coming together to work online and social media allows for valuable interaction. Once isolated, illustrators now coming together and use social media to market their work (in varied ways such as Etsy, BeHance, the iSpot, etc.) and discuss the profession, strategies, and client issues.
Digital entertainment is normal now. And it makes people comfortable with electronic formats. E-book sales have tripled in the last year with e-books outselling traditional books by 43% in the last quarter. They can be multi-path stories and are highly visual. E-books will outsell paperbacks in 2011.
Markets for illustrators are opening in electronic publishing and online gaming. Vinyl toys and licensing are on the rise (Haring: The Pop Shop). Illustrators can develop their own markets and not necessarily wait for an art director to call.
Share files that would otherwise clog your e-mail (or be rejected by a server 'cause they're too damn big) using these resources. There are free and paid versions. Visit each one to get the specs, but they're all worth checking out to see which one fits your needs. They all allow you to "share" your files with an invited person online. Yowza! I see your stacks of paper disappearing!
Mindmapping offers those of us who are more visual some real options for organizing material and/or activities in ways that make a lot of sense. Give some of these a try!
Advising: flexible advisee course sequence plans (fully interactive), visual guide for visual students (and advisors!)
Courses: collective information, group brainstorming, quickly accessing web resources
Meetings: keeps "flow" going, can be converted to outlines
Wikis offer a lot of flexibility and convenience for teaching and collaborative work. Though they can seem daunting at first, remember that Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is your course or work wiki.
Courses:
Paperless courses, archive of course activity, available 24/7, students (and instructors) cannot lose materials, determine levels of access
Faculty + Administrators:
Paperless, avoids overstuffed "in-box"on e-mail, available 24/7, cuts down on meetings if desired, organize small and large projects, determine levels of access. Can include calendars, task lists, references (links, files, images, etc.)
Further:
Copyright concerns, private vs. public pages, limited number of participants (depending), cost? Some examples follow...
