JTools

JTools For Journalism and Media Teachers

I borrowed this idea from Tools For News, but I am going to try to focus this on just tools scholastic (high school and middle school) journalism programs can use.  With a focus on free!  But of course some tools cost money.

Audio

• Audacity:  (Free PC/Mac) Audio/music editor
• GarageBand: (Free Mac) Audio/music editor
• iPodDisk: (Free Mac) iPod management tool
• Senuti: ($18 Mac) iPod management tool
• Zamzar (Free PC/Mac) online file converter; converts many audio formats

Blogging

• Blogger.com (Free PC/Mac) Online blog with free hosting (I used to blog here)
• WordPress.com (Free PC/Mac) Online blog with free hosting (I blog here)
• WordPress.org (Free PC/Mac) Free to download blogging software, you need your own host, which will cost $

Images / Photography

• Zamzar (Free PC/Mac) online file converter; converts many image formats

Social Networking

• Facebook (Free PC/Mac) Online profile and friend service
• Twitter (Free PC/Mac) Microblogging / social networking service
• Wired Journalists (Free PC/Mac) Social networking for journalists via Ning (a great social networking builder)

Text Tools/Newspaper Tools

• Open Office (Free PC/Mac) Open source office suite
• Google Docs (Free PC/Mac) Online Office suite
• My High School Journalism ($50 One-time fee PC/Mac) Online high school newspaper hosting from ASNE
• Newsroom Director ($129/year PC/Mac) Online story editing, management, storage and staff management software. Never lose a story again.  Specifically built for high school newspapers.
• Neo Office (Mac) Open Office specifically for the Mac
• Zamzar (Free PC/Mac) online file converter; converts docx to doc and others

Video Tools

• Flash Video Downloader (Free Mac) Download flash videos to your desktop to use later
• Flip4Mac (Free-$179 Mac) Converts WMV files to Quicktime
• Handbrake (Free PC/Mac) Rip segments from a DVD to use in class under Fair Use terms
• Jing (Free PC/Mac) Screen-capture software to record tutorials while you do them on your desktop
• Quicktime Player (Free PC/Mac) Standard video player for tons of video on the internet
• Quicktime Pro ($29.99 PC/Mac) Download Quicktime files with one click and edit simply and quickly
• Perian (Free Mac) The Swiss Army knife of Quicktime, converts tons of video to Quicktime
• Screencast-o-matic (Free PC/Mac) Flash based online screencapture software
• Tube TV (Free Mac) Download YouTube or flash videos to use in class later
• Wimpy FLV Player (Free PC/Mac) Play FLV files in their native format on your computer
• Zamzar (Free PC/Mac) online file converter; converts many video formats

Web Design

• Access IT (Free PC/Mac) Web design curriculum via the University of Washington
• Firefox (Free PC/Mac) Web browser that is better than either Explorer or Safari
• HTML Dog (Free PC/Mac) HTML and CSS tutorials and how to’s
• W3C Schools (Free PC/Mac) HTML, CSS, Javascript tutorials and how to’s
• NVU (Free PC/Mac) Web authoring in HTML, CSS or WYSIWYG
• ThumbsUp (Free Mac) Batch thumbnail maker

Web Tools

• Google Reader (Free PC/Mac) RSS Feed aggregation tool to keep up with blogs much easier
• MediaFire (Free PC/Mac) Free online file storage and hosting

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