faf: José Picardo

October 2, 2009 in General, iPhone/iPad/iPod, Mac by Angelina Roberts

Educational Technology and Elearning are areas of teaching close to my heart. Leading educational technologist  José Picardo is Head of Modern Foreign Languages in Nottingham and believes fervently in making education compatible with the needs of students through the effective use of technology. José runs the successful Box of Tricks blog.

1. Tweetdeck

When I first heard of Twitter two years ago (@josepicardo), I thought it was a quirky way to communicate with people but perhaps not all that useful. How wrong could I have been? Today Twitter is my primary means of communication with friends and fellow educationalists from all around the globe.

With an ever increasing number of followers and followees, Tweetdeck, with both an desktop and an iPhone app which automatically sync with each other, has quickly become an ever present feature on my desktop, allowing me to manage the vast amount of information constantly streaming down from Twitter. [Link]

2. Evernote

Evernote is my brain. It’s installed on my own Macbook, my school Macbook and my iPhone and allows me to tag and store web pages, photos, text notes and sound recordings. Saving them in one device and it automatically syncs in all the others.

This means I never forget anything, from that lovely red I drank last night at the restaurant to that article in the newspaper I was reading on the train; from that reminder I set myself to the voice memos I recorded on the go. [Link]

3. The Hit List

Another productivity tool, The Hit List came to replace the note pad where I used to list all my to-do tasks. It quickly allows you to set and schedule tasks, keeping a record of what you did when. You can have different lists on the go and it syncs with your iCal.

Not a cheap programme, but great at what it does: it keeps me on task and tells me what needs doing next. [Link]

4. Picturesque

Having a blog, a departmental website and a site hosting interactive Spanish exercises, being able to quickly whip up professional looking illustrations without spending precious time editing masks or fiddling with layers is very important to me. Picturesque allows you to resize and add preset effects to your images, allowing you to produce stunning images for your website in seconds. Another tool worth the money in my book. [Link]

5. Skype

Emailing and tweeting is all well and good, but now and then it’s just better to be able have a chat with colleagues or family. Available for both desktop and iPhone, Skype is just perfect for keeping up with friends and family, particularly living abroad as I do. Another permanent feature on my desktop! [Link]

Take Part

If you  like to take part in the Five Apps Friday series then why not get in contact. The applications can be either OSX based or iPhone and all we need is a 620 pixel wide (landscape) photo and a png screen shot of the apps in a row. All we need is your five favourite applications and why…….