Tips for saving money and finding free resources for school

It's serious crunch time in regards to education budgets. Budgets are staying flat or shrinking as costs go up. So, how do we cut costs to get the most bang for our buck?


Here are some tips:


1. DIY Whiteboards - a regular whiteboard can cost hundreds of dollars. If you go to a home improvement store, you can buy the same material for a few bucks and glue it over an existing chalk board or wall. 


And forget those expensive "Interactive Whiteboards" that are not interactive and are a huge waste of money since most teachers only use them as a projection screen. Save the $2500 and use it on other things that will get all of the students active. 


2. Professional Development - don't hire expensive "Professional Trainers" that probably haven't been in a classroom in years. There are a lot of great presenters and trainers out there though too. But, if you are hurting for money, you need to cut these out (or at least decrease the number). Use the resources you have around you. There are plenty of people in your building or district that would make great PD presenters for you, and will be much less expensive than bringing in an outside trainer. Also, you can help other teachers create their own personal learning network for instant and always-on professional development. Related: Professional Development on a Shoestring Budget, Professional Development 2.0. 


3. Netbooks instead of laptops or (sorry guys) Apple products - Netbooks are very inexpensive and you can use lots of free software on them. In fact, if they come running Linux, they are going to come with lots of software for you. I'm also waiting to see how much the Google Chrome OS notebook computers will be because Chrome OS will be great for schools. You can get two netbooks for the cost of an inexpensive laptop or iPad and you can get 3-5 for a Apple laptop. You can also get 9 netbooks for the cost of one Interactive White Board. Related: ACER One Netbook Review, and Update.


4. Free Software and Services - why pay for software when there is so much out there that is free (and in many cases, better than the paid version). Google has a million apps and services that are free and then you have things like OpenOffice, GIMP (graphics editing), and more that are really good and free. Related: Alternatives to Paid Software, Free Alternatives to Paid Software and Services, Free Apps - Find Free Software


5. Go Paperless! If you have the computers, you can go paperless. You can also decrease the amount of paper used if you use computer based note taking, don't print emails, and use email instead of printed memos.  Related: Tools to Go Paperless.


6. Free Textbooks - instead of spending $60 - $140 for textbooks that are heavy, static and get outdated quickly, look for free alternatives. Create your own "textbook" using a class website and posting materials there. Use free e-texts that are available. Use a variety of free resources instead of textbooks. Related: Resources to Replace Textbooks, Digital Textbooks, Free Textbooks (downloadable and online).


7. Find some grants and donations - grants are a great way to get supplies and equipment for the classroom. Talk to local businesses and colleges and ask for donations of older equipment, computers,  furniture, and such. You can also ask local businesses for money donations. There are thousands of grants out there for teachers, but the applications can be time consuming. Donor's Choose is easy and a great way to get supplies for your classroom. Related: Sources of Funding for Teachers 


8. In-house IT Help - use knowledgeable teachers and students to help others with tech problems so that the IT department can focus on the big issues. 


9. Free calculators - if students will be working on computers a lot, like in a 1-1 program, why spend money on calculators? There are free calculators available online, and for download, so save your money. Related: Free online calculators, Microsoft Math - free math help and graphing calculator software. 


10. Free Conferences - why pay for an educational conference when there are so many free alternatives? I do like many conferences that you have to pay to attend (like CECA, TechForum, FETC and ISTE) but if you don't have the money, you can still attend some great conferences for free. 


Some free alternatives:
Edcamp - held all over the country


EduCon - held yearly in Philadelphia

Teachmeet - held all over the world

NT Camp - held in multiple locations


Discovery Education Spring Virtual Conference 
(Discovery runs a lot of free online conferences and in person Day of Discoveries - check out the DEN Blog Network to find out about more of them)

Virtual Tech Forum 

Campus Technology Virtual Conference

Virtual FETC Conference

Related Articles and Resources

Why do schools still pay so much for software? Free alternatives to paid software and services

Top 10 Free Google Resources

Top 10 Free Web 2.0 Resources for Students

Top 10 Free Resources from Discovery Education

Free Stuff - summary of free things I use to save money at school

The Value of Educational Technology

Free Stuff for Educators

The blog your are currently reading.


Free Technology for Teachers - another great place to find free resources for your classroom.

There are a lot of ways to save money at school. What do you use to save money at school? What resources do you use to find free things?

Free Stuff - summary of free things I use to save money at school

Everyone in education knows that money is always a problem. We never have enough for our classrooms. But, there are ways around that. Free stuff means that you can allocate your limited funding to things you can't get free. There are also grants out there, but they can be hard to get (some grant applications are over 10 pages long!). So here is a list of free resources I use to save money at school (and at home).

1. Google Docs and Open Office. Why pay for Microsoft Office when Google Docs and OpenOffice are free! 90% of what I do can be handled with Google Docs. When I get something that is more intense and needs more features, I use OpenOffice. Our school district has been looking at Google Apps for Education, which could save us tens of thousands of dollars a year in licensing fees. The other great thing about Google Docs is that your files are online. No more worrying about copying files to a flash drive to bring home. No more excuses from students that they left their paper at home.

2. Don't print!! I try not to print or copy when I can. I do have some students who don't have computers or broadband internet at home, so I have to print some things. But, I have 8 computers for students in my room so I don't print things for class. Each class has a classroom blog (read more HERE) that I post resources, information, and class assignments on it. For computer assignments (virtual labs, research, webquests) the students just click the link. I don't have them print their work, they just email it to me, or post it as a comment to the blog. It saves time (no copying) and saves paper and toner.

3. Websites, email, and blogs for communication. The classroom blogs, my class web site, and email are all great ways to communicate. Most people have email or at least a phone that gets messaging. If schools could confirm that all parents and students have email or text messaging, or internet access and we could stop printing memos and notices. (Every teacher at my school has school email, yet the school will send an email AND print the memo - what a waste of paper).

4. Evernote - I use Evernote as a note taking system. No paper needed! I have my notes organized by topic. I have reference notes, lesson plans, tech tips, and much more on here. What I really love, is that I can access my notes from any internet enabled computer or cell phone. I also like the ability to "clip" web sites into a note in Evernote. What's great, is that hyperlinks on the web page are kept when clipped into Evernote. You can also attach files to your notes. Free accounts can only attach images (JPEG/PNG/GIF), audio (MP3, WAV, AMR), PDF, and digital ink files. I try to convert most of my files to PDF anyway for cross-platform support. (Here is some info on how to create PDF files for free on your computer, or online. ) I can access my Evernote files from any internet connected computer or smart phone too, so they are always available to me.

5. Textbooks, who needs them? I don't use a textbook with my physics classes. The book we have is outdated and hard to understand. We have a lot of them and they are in great physical condition so the district won't buy new ones. But that's OK because I don't need them. I use some websites and free physics textbooks I've found instead. No money spent on books that average $120 and will be outdated in a couple of years. No worrying about lost books.

I use http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ as an online resource and interactive textbook for the students. I has demos, animations, and more. I also found The People's Physics book which is available online or as a download. It is really well written and has some great examples in it. I then supplement these with other websites and resources for each section.

6. Engrade - Engrade is a free online gradebook for teachers. I have all of my classes listed here and each student is given an access code so that they can see their grades any time they want. I also give access codes to the parents so that they always know how their student is doing. It is accessable from any web enabled computer and you can generate multiple reports and export the data if needed. The great thing, no paper and no money spent.

7. Free professional development - I use my Personal Learning Network for free advice, tips, and resources - why spend money to attend professional development sessions when you can find so much out there for free. Here's my article on getting started with a PLN. And I love virtual conferences, which are also free. Most major conferences have virtual counterparts, such as FETC and TechForum.

Here's some more stuff on professional development on a budget.

8. Sugarsync - Sugarsync is an online system that backs up your files and allows you to access them from any web enabled computer or smart phone. There is a free, 2GB capacity account available. What is really great is that it keeps your files in sync among multiple computers. Make a change to a file on computer A, and it is automatically uploaded and sync'd with their servers and any other computers you have specified. You can even open/edit a file directly from their server and it will automatically sync the changes you make. I keep my school files on here so that I can work on them and access them at home and on any computer at school. No need to buy flash drives that can get lost or damaged. Just have your files on your computer and available online.

9. Free educational technology magazines - There are a lot of educational and educational technology journals and magazines out there. I have two favorites, both of which are free.

The first one is Tech&Learning magazine, which I am a TL Advisor for. I write a bi-monthly blog and do product reviews for them. The magazine has a lot of great articles and resources for teachers. They also run educational technology conferences around the country. The conferences are a great way for educators to see what is new and how to integrate technology into their classrooms.

The other one is THE Journal. THE Journal is another great resource with some really good articles, tips, and information for educators.

Both magazines also have great websites with a plethora of information. You can subscribe to either an electronic or paper version of the magazines.

The articles and information in both magazines are well written, timely, and relevent and well worth reading.

10. Free educational web sites - way too many to list, but easy to find! Google is your best resource for finding great things online and then use your PLN (See #7 above) to find more great resources.

11. Donors Choose. Donors Choose was actually started by teachers. You sign up for an account, fill out a project proposal, selecting the items you need from a variety of vendors, and then people with money to donate go to Donors Choose and select projects to fund. I have had multiple projects funded through Donors Choose. It is a very simple process and the staff can help you with any problems. I have been able to get a lot of great materials and equipment for my classes through Donors Choose.

More on Sources of Funding for Teachers.

More free stuff: http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-tl-blog-posted-today.html

I hope this helps you with some ways to save money. Please share your ideas with us!

Free stuff for students

I just found this web site today. The site is College Tips and Resources, specifically for online courses. 

This article has a list of 69 Free or Open source tools for students.

I use many of them myself, as do many other teachers.

I really like this list as it contains a lot of great resources.

 Share it with your students.

Google in Education

I love Google. The free products they have are great resources for me as a person and an educator.

I use Google Mail for email, iGoogle for organizing my selft, Google Calendar, Google Notebook, Google Apps, and Blogger (which is where this blog is hosted.)

iGoogle is my favorite application. Think of it as your own personal start page on the internet. I have mine set up with my bookmarks, Gmail inbox, Google Translate, CCN.com, Top Stories, Google Calendar, My Listy (task list), Google Reader, Google Notebook (lesson plans), Stock quote tracking, weather, and a Blogger gadget for posting to my blog. It is the one website that I open all the time to keep my self organized and informed.

I also use Google Apps to create, edit, and store word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Since everything is hosted in the "cloud" (ie. on the Web), I have access to these items from any computer that has internet access. It doesn't matter if it is Windows, Apple, or Linux.

I have been so impressed with Google and have used it so much that I am sharing these things, along with some others such as Google Scholar, Picasa, and Sketchup, with other teachers in a professional development session in April.

Free, well designed, and useful. What more can you ask for?