Web Apps and Software Worth Paying For

Over time, I've come across some web apps and software that are worth paying for and I'm going to share them here.  These are my essential programs and I'm only including ones I'd pay for again if I needed to!   I am not working with or for these programs so please know this is based on opinion and opinion only!  I must note that every one of these programs supports education by providing upgraded accounts and/or discounts to educators.

1. Diigo - Diigo organizes my world online.  With Diigo, I can save websites in the cloud and access them from anywhere.  I'm able to highlight, add to groups, share with hours, annotate, and take screen captures and save them in Diigo.  I can grab a screenshot of a website to ensure I never lose the critical information. I'm able to share with groups with a simple click.  Their toolbar is phenomenal and I use the Sidebar to easily find my sites which I've grouped for ease.  It never goes down, never malfunctions, and is quite frankly, top-notch.  Without a doubt, an educator's dream!  And, I have an educator's account which lets me teach my students the value of Diigo and what it can do to support their educational career.


2. Microsoft Office - Now, what can I say.  It's the standard and there's a reason.  I am now discovering OneNote and really like it!


3. Tabbles - Tabbles is an excellent, albeit different, file organization tool for your computer.   It's AWESOME!  I love the automatic "tagging/filing" system that Tabbles provides and the fact that, with the business edition, I'm able to keep 3 computers in sync.  Tabbles also offers a nice browser integration link to make adding files and links in an organized fashion a breeze!


4. Publishers Press -  This one is not for everyone.  But, if you are looking for a way to provide a great newsletter for your school or students (or to post online), this one is perfect!  I currently write (along with my fellow CTIS at the other high school in Deer Park) a weekly newsletter to share the information that we receive pertaining to technology.  It has a bit of a learning curve and I'm sure I haven't discovered all of it yet.  However, the result is a clean, crisp newsletter that looks professional and high quality.   If you have to publish a high school newsletter for journalism, this is a great program.


5. Breevy - So, email and repetitive text tasks got you down?  "Breevy is your answer.  Breevy is a text expander for Windows that helps you type faster and more accurately."  That comes from their website but doesn't really explain how fantastic this is.  Let's say you are grading digital essays and you find yourself repeating the same lengthy text to students...with Breevy, you just enter a few letters (code) that you set up and it types the entire thing for you.  Signatures, common responses to email questions, and even websites can be opened using this tool.  An INCREDIBLE time saver built to make life easier for an educator.

For now, I'm leaving my list with these top 5.  I'm really exploring a few others, Evernote, for example.  Until then, enjoy this list!  Most have trial versions worth trying out!

Related articles

• Diigo- A regular educators look at why Diigo is a teacher's friend (myweb4edblog.com)