Free Productivity Resources for Educators

This listing is divided into two key groups – tools intended specifically for educators, and general applications intended for everyone.

We’ve made an effort to provide a worthy set of resources in each of these categories (and to avoid resources that seem of lesser quality or functionality). All of these applications are free (some have both free and paid versions). Some sites may require registration. If you know of any similar quality tools that you think deserve consideration, please drop a comment below.

This listing benefits greatly from reader input, so don’t hesitate to share! Thanks.

RESOURCES DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR EDUCATORS

Activity & Materials Creators

Communications Tools (Print & Electronic)

Course Management Systems & LMS alternatives
(You have to register to use these tools, so you can save your own personalized content. Note that these tools are generally more involved than many of the other resources on this page. Some of them offer both paid and free functionality)

Clipart

Educational Videos

Interactives (for White Boards, or Powerpoint)

iPhone, iPad, and Android Apps

Lesson Plans

Open Educational Resources

Presentation Tools

Quizzes & Tests
(These types of sites require sign up)

Rubrics

Social Learning & Collaboration

OTHER/Miscellaneous


GENERAL RESOURCES (not intended just for educators)

Animation

Blogging

Document Management

File Management

Group Projects

iPad Apps

Literature Summary/Analysis

Mind Mapping

Note Taking

Online Interactive White Boards

Picture, Photo, & Image Editing & Organizing

PowerPoint

  • Watch this video to learn about creating your own Custom Animations, and learn about many other free resources.
  • This tutorial from Online Tech Tips explains how to create slide transition automations using easy pre-configured tools in PowerPoint.
  • Click here to access a preconfigured search of Microsoft’s Office Site, set up to return dozens of articles with hundreds of free templates for PowerPoint.
  • PresentationMagazine.com provides tons of tips, articles, PowerPoint templates, and more

Screencasting & Presentations

Twitter

Other/Miscellaneous

If you have a resource you would like to see added to this list, please comment and tell us about it.

About

Kelly Walsh is CIO at The College of Westchester in White Plains, NY and is the founder and author of EmergingEdTech.com. As an education technology advocate, he frequently delivers presentations on a variety of related topics at schools and conferences across the U.S. Walsh is also an author and online educator, and his latest eBook, "iPads in Education: Implementations, Apps, & Insights" is available for sale in the iBookstore. In his spare time, he records and performs original and cover songs (look for "K. Walsh" on iTunes or Amazon.com or check out his original song videos on here on YouTube ).

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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

Andrea April 5, 2013 at 4:59 am

This is great list I will definitely be passing on to students, teachers and other educators I am in touch with as a useful free education resources library.

I see you have a lot of suggestions in your comments so I would like to let you know about the online learning platform we are developing called ExamTime.

This free resource incorporates proven learning techniques and uses online study tools such as Mind Maps, Flashcards, Quizzes, Study Notes & a Goal Setting tool to improve your memory, aid recall and ultimately improve your learning.

It would be great if you could add our site to your list on this page: http://www.examtime.com

Thanks for letting your followers know about us!

Arvind March 19, 2013 at 2:30 pm

Thanks for this great resource! Here’s a card I made for you
http://www.buncee.com/buncee/32641

May I suggest a webapp, called buncee.com (i work here)
It lets you make interactive lesson plans and also fun and personal cards/invitations.

Thanks,
A

apio software January 9, 2013 at 10:51 am

Online education has benefited greatly from presentation software and document sharing programs. Many teachers are now updating websites with important information.

Software programs like Google Docs and presentation programs like Slideshare make new information easier for students to get their hands on. I would suggest adding a product like ours to the list as it incorporates all of the aspects of each of the products into one.

http://www.apio.com/

Dexter Morgan November 29, 2012 at 12:55 am

Great List. No doubt i can understand how much effort one need in research to keep all this in one place. Thumps Up Guys.
I would also suggest you add edtechreview.in which is for students, teachers, and all educators who want to know about education. Its a dream site for any educator who want to learn better in a competitive world like India.Have a look. Everything on this site is free

Best Bloke August 8, 2012 at 1:16 am

I would like to add a presentation application to this list, where teachers can create narrated power-point presentations without Audio/video tools for free(for academic purpose only) !! Sounds interesting ? Yeah !! it uses powerful text-voice engine to create narrated presentations looking as good as video. See a Demo here at http://www.slidespeech.com/
It supports all the mobile devices – Apple , Android and Windows phone.

Remy Lamers May 4, 2012 at 9:15 am

I would like to suggest Knowble Articles. It’s an online language learning program that helps students improve their English. The program uses news articles that fit with the language proficiency and personal interests of every individual student. It also monitors progress, and helps improve vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. It has a free and premium version.

all.pro May 3, 2012 at 5:11 pm

Great list! A family recently graduated from college and is perusing education – and she was surprised how little up and coming teachers are aware of the technology that is available to them.

I would like to suggest a couple of our research pages that deal in the benefits and dangers of multitasking and productivity. It’s important for students and educators to understand that multitasking is not always an option. Thanks again for sharing this list.

http://all.pro/resources/multitasking.html
http://all.pro/resources/productivity.html

how to study April 18, 2012 at 10:27 pm

Very wonderful information can be found on this web site.

J Avila April 14, 2012 at 2:37 pm

Might I suggest 4sync. Its basically drop box, but with a hearty 15GB of FREE storage!!!

K. Walsh November 14, 2011 at 12:16 pm

Sure, EmergingEdTech is on Twitter – @EmergingEdTech. Or stop by: http://twitter.com/EmergingEdTech!

Claudette Anthony November 14, 2011 at 9:42 am

Hey! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.

garage door May 29, 2011 at 1:10 pm

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uipluscode_support April 8, 2011 at 2:05 am

hi all,

We are looking for a teachers who are willing to test our gradebook app for iphone or ipod touch. For those who are interested email us at uipluscode@gmail.com so we can give you a promo code to download the app for free. Thank you.

Susan Brooks January 7, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Nice List! Internet4Classrooms has a list of free resources for teachers to help with productivity in the classroom. It is in a section called Teacher Tools.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/teachertools.htm
Have a look. Everything on this site is free.

Monica January 5, 2011 at 2:08 am

How about adding Prezi – free presentation software. http://prezi.com. Has some engaging examples of lessons teachers have created using Prezi.

Sal December 7, 2010 at 11:39 am

Thanks for compiling this list! I would also suggest you add Enterthegroup.com which is a free site for students to manage their group projects online. It also enables teachers to create online classrooms. Check it out.

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