Open Office - FREE

I have been using Open Office for about 3 months now. It seems to be a great open source office suite. It includes six programs: Writer (word), Calc(excel), Draw(paint), Impress(powerpoint), Base(access), and Math. I have had the occasion to use Writer, Calc, and Impress. I have played with Draw. But, I have not gotten to try Base and Math yet. I feel pretty confident about these programs. I even went as far as removing Microsoft Office from my personal computer and installing Open Office in place of it. The only thing lacking is its own clip art library. But, many people (myself included) looked to online providers on clip art anyway. You can try Open Office for yourself by downloaded it from http://www.openoffice.org. There is no commitment on your part. If you don't like it, uninstall it. Also, if you do decide to use this program, you may want to save your documents in the Microsoft Office format, especially if you plan to share them with anyone else. Open Office saves documents in its own format, but you can decide to save as another format.

Common Craft

I just watched a few videos on Common Craft and I think this is a great tool for anyone who has questions about technology. They answer questions with real-world stories. Also, they explain it in plain English so non-techie people can understand. You might even find a video to show to your classes. I am thinking about using the one that explains the difference between regular light bulbs and compact halogen bulbs.