Find a solution that meets your needs
The CTSs try to keep up with the staggering number of useful tools and technologies that are available to instructors.
We monitor trends, search for innovative and interesting uses of technology, and are always mindful of the delicate balance between time and effort invested in learning a technology and the pedagogical benefit of applying it in teaching. Our goal is to find the simplest, most elegant solution to meet your need. Listed below you'll find some of the tools in our technology toolbox. These are tools that have been used to meet the needs of faculty at Grinnell and beyond and we hope you'll find something of interest among them. Please contact a CTS if you have any questions about the tools themselves or about how they've been used in teaching and learning. Alternatively, if you have found a tool that is particularly useful to teaching, please share it with us!
Click a heading below to view a list of available tools in that category. Click on the tools to read a brief description and to access further information (tutorial videos and examples of classroom use.)
Audacity
Free, open-source audio editing software that can be used for everything from very simple voice recording to very complex, multi-track audio editing. Versions are available for both PC and Mac. Learn more:
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ListenUp
Browser-based audio recorder that has can be deployed in your Pioneerweb course area. Allows students to submit audio recordings, to which the instructor can later add comments and feedback. Learn more:
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VoiceThread
Browser-based application that allows users to create a slideshow and then record an audio narration. The resulting VoiceThread can be shared with other users who can add audio comments to the slideshow. VoiceThread is particularly useful for Digital Storytelling. Learn more:
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GarageBand
Multi-track audio recording and editing software by Apple. Garageband has a number of features that make it very easy to create podcasts and to add effects to audio tracks. Learn more:
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Snagit
Software for your PC that allows you to capture your desktop, or portions of it, as an image and add annotations. Learn more:
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Grab
An application bundled in Mac OS X that allows you to capture your desktop, or portions of it, as an image. On your Mac you can find Grab under Applications/Utilities/Grab. Learn more:
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Jing
Free software for PC or Mac that allows you to capture your desktop, or portions of it, as an image, and add annotations. Jing can also capture a movie of your desktop. These screen captures can be immediately uploaded to a server and shared with others via a provided URL. Learn more:
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Clickers
Small devices that allow students to instantly submit responses to classroom prompts. Clickers can be used to conduct informal in-class surveys, short quizes, or interactive activities. Learn more:
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3D Printer
"Prints" or creates a true three dimensional object from a three dimensional digital representation. Has many applications including creating models of molecular structures, recreating fossils, previewing scultpures and creating other manipulatables. Learn more:
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Delicious
A social-bookmarking application that in addition to offering a comprehensive solution to your bookmarking needs, allows you to share you bookmarks, and find related resources through the bookmarks of other users. Learn more:
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Diigo
A social-bookmarking application that in addition to offering a comprehensive solution to your bookmarking needs, allows you to share you bookmarks, and find related resources through the bookmarks of other users. Diigo also allows you to annotate the pages you bookmark, adding comments, highlights, etc. Your annotations can be shared along with your bookmarks. A powerful tool for sharing and discussing resources on the web. Learn more:
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Dropio
Files (up to 100 MB) can be uploaded to drop.io and easily shared with collaborators. Drop.io takes care of necessary file conversions and makes sharing your files very convenient. Learn more:
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Dropbox
Dropbox provides a free and simple solution for you to sync up to 2GB of files between multiple computers. With Dropbox your files are readily available and can be easily shared with collaborators. Learn more:
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Flickr
Share you photos or browse and search other people's photos. Photos can be annotated, added to slideshows and commented on. Flickr is a great place to find high-quality creative commons licensed materials. Learn more:
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Slideshare
Share your PowerPoint presentations privately or publicly online. An audio narration can be added after uploading. Learn more:
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Blogs
Blogs can be created within your Pioneerweb Course Area or outside of Pioneerweb if you need a wider audience. Blogs enable students to post their thoughts and engage in dialog within the class or as a part of a wider community. There are many options available for blogs and the CTSs can help you find one that will meet your specific needs. Learn more:
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Google Reader
A tool that can collect content from the sources of information that are most important to you as it is created, and present the content in one place, with ability to share content items with other people. Learn more:
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Google Docs
A browser-based application for editing documents and spreadsheets. Documents and spreadsheets can be shared with other people for collaborative editing. Learn more:
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TinyURL
A simple tool that will take a very long link (that may be hard to remember, format, or copy and paste) and turn it into a very short link that is much easier to handle. Learn more:
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YouTube Downloader
A Firefox add-on that allows you to save a local copy of a video you've found on youtube (and other similar sites.) To use this tool you need to use the Firefox browser, for similar tools that don't require Firefox, talk to a CTS. Learn more:
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Google Maps
Google Maps is much more than a useful way to find driving directions. You can create and share maps that include images, marked points of interest, and much more. Exploring the many uses of Google Maps is well worth it. Learn more:
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Google Earth
Google Earth is essentially a more fully featured, three dimensional version of Google Maps. Google Earth combines topographic data, satelite imagery, and other geographic information with user generated content such as geolocated images, annotations, and tours. Talk to a CTS to learn about applications of Google Earth across disciplines. Google Earth software can be downloaded for free. Learn more:
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Wave
Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation
and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Learn more:
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Mindmeister
Mindmeister is a web-based shared whiteboard useful for creating mind maps, flowcharts, and diagrams that can be shared and edited by collaborators. Learn more:
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Dabbleboard
"Dabbleboard is an online collaboration application that’s centered around the whiteboard. With a new type of drawing interface that's actually easy and fun to use, Dabbleboard gets out of your way and just lets you draw." Learn more:
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Prezi
A web-based tool for creating, sharing, and displaying presentations. Prezi offers easy to use tools to create a unique presentation. Learn more:
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Google Presentations
A web-based tool for creating, sharing, and displaying presentations. Part of the Google Docs suite of applications. Presentations can be created or uploaded, edited, displayed and published all from within an internet browser. Learn more:
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Retrievr
An interesting way to search for images on Flickr. Images are matched by prominent visual features like color scheme and composition. Draw a simple sketch and retrievr will return images that share the visual similarities with your sketch. Learn more:
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Creative Commons
The creative commons search tool is an easy way to locate resources that have been licensed by the content creator in such a way that you may use them in your teaching. Learn more:
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Pixsy
A search engine specifically for videos and images. Learn more:
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Technorati
A search tool for finding materials in the blogosphere. You can also explore blogs by topic or create custom notifications for new content. Learn more:
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Google Blogsearch
A variation of Google's search engine that searches blogs for content related to your query. Learn more:
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Pioneer Digital Image Database
A comprehensive tool for managing, sharing, and presenting personal image collections or local collections of Grinnell College. PDID is a fantastic resource for displaying images in class and allowing students to have access to images outside of class. Learn more:
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ArtStor
A large collection of images coupled with a fully featured solution for creating and sharing slideshows. The
collections available through Artstor cover a wide range of disciplines. Learn more:
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iMovie
An entry level video editing application that is easy to use but still offers some more advanced features like filters and transitions. For Mac only. Learn more:
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Jaycut
A web-based tool for editing simple videos. Possibly an appropriate tool for students to create videos for an assignment due to a low learning curve. Learn more:
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MovieMaker
An entry level video editing application that is easy to use but still offers some more advanced features like filters and transitions. For PC only. Learn more:
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FinalCut
A professional level video editing application capable of very sophisticated editing techniques. Ask a CTS about where Final Cut is available on campus. Learn more:
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Skype
A popular video-conferencing application with simple set-up and reliable connections. Makes it possible to bring guest presenters to the classroom with very little planning and resources. Learn more:
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Marratech
A web conference application which can accomodate multiple participants. Features participant audio and video, shared slides, shared whiteboard, and live chat area. Consult with a CTS to arrange a Marratech video-conference session. Contact a CTS to learn more.
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