Quantcast
Channel: Free Literacy Resources - Blog
Viewing all 89 articles
Browse latest View live

First Post!

0
0
The author of this blog, wants to provide a space for and by adult literacy practitioners to provide help in:

* Increasing student motivation, retention, and persistence

* Identifying and meeting student goals

* Guiding students to the appropriate programs, courses, and information

* Sharing best practices

* Collaborating to increase student achievement

* Providing literacy and Worksheets Links  

The website is tailored to the needs of the Kerry Volunteer Tutor, but many of the blog's articles will be of interest to a broader audience.  These include: integrating technology in the classroom and home; how to create your own (free) blog; and other tips can be found at Loreto's Blog.




Find of the Week

0
0
But what exactly is RSS?  Why should you be interested?

RSS is a mechanism by which web sites and other internet-based systems publish information feeds.  For example, most newspapers ( Kerryman, Independent etc.)  with an online presence publish a number of RSS feeds on various topics, containing details of stories. There are literally hundreds of thousands of feeds available.  To read these feeds, which are generally free, all you need to do is to subscribe to the feeds you're interested in, and get yourself some RSS feed reader software such as InoReader.

When you vist a web site that offers an RSS feed you're interested in, click on the link to that feed and then copy its address into the "subscribe" box on your Inoreader account.  It'll be added to any subscriptions you already have, which you can then read by simply clicking on the feed titles within your reader.

If you're interested in a particular topic, and you don't want to keep scanning hundreds of web sites to see what's new in your field, RSS is a great idea.  Just sign up to the RSS feeds from the sites you're interested in, then read everything in one place via Inoreader.  You'll never need to visit the individual websites.

Creative Ways to Use Your Printer

0
0
The days of printing out banners with perforated edges may be a long-lost ’80s memory, but finding joy in cool things your printer can still do is possible.

The key in 2013 - thinking beyond the paper. From customized napkins and ribbons to making unique artwork for your walls using everyday fabrics, your standard printer is much more than your go-to gadget for printing out forms and receipts.

This guide will outline 10 awesome ways to use your printer.

Quickly Change Your Printer Settings in Chrome

10 ways to get creative with your printer by HP

Top 10 Secret Uses for Your Printer

22 New Ways To Use Your Printer

10 surprising things to do with your printer

10 Ways to Make Use of Your Printer

Videojug - Get Good At Life 

0
0
Videojug

The videos cover many categories, including Beauty and Style, Creative Culture, DYI and Home, Family and Education, Food and Drink, Health and Wellbeing, Love and Dating, Money and Careers, Sports and Outdoors and Technology and Cars. A complete listing of the topics in each category can be found here if you'd rather not browse.

Site navigation is easy and printable directions are available for videos (where applicable). Watching one of the videos usually brings up a strip of related videos along the bottom of the page - the AutoPlay feature will start the next video unless you click AutoPlay off. Videojug has a mobile site and apps for iOS and Android devices.

(information from Gizmos..find of the week)

Free Excellent To-Do Manager Software

0
0
_KanBan Flow has a simple screen layout and usability interface.  Get things done, quickly. It takes less than 2 minutes to learn how to use KanbanFlow. The user interface is built for speed, without frustrating loading times.  The Kanban board gives you an excellent overview of your current work situation.  By dividing your tasks into subtasks you can track how much progress you have made on a specific task.  As soon as a subtask is completed, you can directly tick it off on the board. The change is automatically saved without any further action required of you.  

Get things done, quickly. That's the way we think it should be when working with a lean project management tool. Add, delete, move or reorder your tasks without experiencing any frustrating loading times. Create as many Kanban boards as you like. Each board can be shared or kept private, individually. So you can use both work related boards and private boards on the same account without problem.You can easily switch between your boards, which is practical if you happen to be involved in several projects on a daily basis.



What is a Torrent?

0
0
Torrent are the most popular protocol for the transfer of music, videos, ebooks, software and other contents. So why use Torrents? There is a great deal of content available through torrents and Gizmos guide will help you to find and download that content.
Gizmos have a great guide on Torrents and Bittorrents and how to use them and thebest Bittorrent out there. There is also a link on how to install one of the best Bittorrents Vuze without the toolbar add on. The Best Free Torrent Search Engines can be found Here.

General Torrent Search Sites

These sites are among the most popular torrent search sites and offer large indexes of torrents and helpful features to verify, filter and sort among search results.  Any one of these sites will serve your goal of finding a clean, real and healthy torrent for the content you want.
Since these are public torrent sites and, for the most part, allow anyone to upload, fakes can make their way into the listings. Make sure your Default Browser has an ad block filter: Chrome ad block add on. Firefox ad block filter.  

KATis the top pick at Gizmo's due to its large index of torrents and verified torrents as well as the comment, filter and sort features that they offer.   They index over 9 million torrents, including over 1 million verified torrents.  Tabs on the torrent page allow viewing of the files, trackers and comments.  KAT offers many features to help in your search, they are responsive to user feature requests and are always improving.


TORRENTZis another comprehensive search engine that lists over 14.5 million torrents and has almost 3 million  torrents that have been verified to be clean.  Torrentz also has the nice feature of listing all trackers for a torrent, not just the ones embedded in the torrent file, though this is not that important in torrents now.  One drawback is that they do not host the torrent files and one must go to other sites for the download.  Be careful with the sites you choose to go to. 


BitSnoopThis is a metasearch site that indexes over 17.8 million torrents from 369 trackers.  Although they do not list a number that I could find, they appear to have a large listing of verified torrents. This site is extremely fast at returning search results.   They also have a TV Finder which lists all shows alphabetically with links to all torrents for each show. 


Torlock: advertises that all the torrents there are verified to be clean and real.  Their listing now has over 500,000 verified torrents. A negative is the lack of comments or ratings for the quality of the content.  However, for newer users, this is a good site to start your searches to ensure a clean download.  Caution:  Only click on the word "torrent" on the download page.  The other links are scams.  Also do not choose a "sponsored" result. Thanks to freestuffrocks for this site.


H33t: (204.16.200.51) indexes over 5 million torrents and monitors the torrents that are uploaded through their site.  As long as you stick to the torrents that are h33t uploads, you are pretty safe.  The site looked to be ad free when I disabled ABP, but on one occasion I did get a couple popups and there is a scam download link.  All in all, it is pretty clean, but I would suggest keeping ABP enabled.  


The PirateBayis probably the most well known torrent search site.  They list about 3.7 million torrents.  TPB has an excellent filtering system and clean torrents can be found quickly in the search results by looking for a skull image next to the torrent.  The one drawback now is that they are switching to magnet links only and given the issues that some of the bittorrent clients have with magnet links, this is a negative.


TORRENT US:  is a clean site (no ads and scam links) meta search site that culls results quickly.  They index several of the sites on this page and have over 5.5 million torrents listed.  They also allow filtering of the sites at the user's discretion.  I found the layout to be very user friendly.  The drawbacks are that they, like Torrentz, only provide links to the sites and do not host the torrents.  So one must be careful at each particular site.


TorrentTo: is a search site that culls results from a large number of torrent search sites.  Nice feature is that you can choose the sites to include in the search (this is saved in the site cookie for future use).  The results show the pages at the sites and the sites can be togggled up top.  Not my personal preference for viewing results as I prefer to see all the results at once, but this type does appeal to some users.  As usual, caution needs to be taken at the sites from which results are shown.  Thanks to Nero  for this site.


ExtraTorrent: has 1.5 million torrent in its listing.  It is not the largest listing, but they seem to have many of releases and no duplicates.  A good number of the torrents I checked were from a trusted or verified uploader.  Unfortunately, this is not shown  in the search results.  This site has gained popularity with a number of users on the web and is a good source.  Avoid the "Direct download" link.


isoHunt.com: is a comprehensive torrent search site and lists over 8 million torrents from its own trackers and 582 other sites.   isoHunt is supposed to be offered only as a "lite" version in the USA  and that does not compare to the real isoHunt or any of these sites.  Many users like the layout and information at isoHunt and it would be a good choice for those that have accesss to the full version.  Note:  I have seen a lot of users around the web have trouble with fakes from isoHunt.  

Unique Torrent Search Sites

These sites cater to special niche interests and stand out for their attention to that niche and their clean offerings.

EZTV  (https) is the site for all things television.  It is the biggest and past and easiest to use for TV offerings.  In addition to torrents they have a countdown list as to when shows are to return to original broadcasts, a show list indicating the status of a TV show (ended; pending; airing etc.), TV news and a calendar of shows being broadcast.

Coda.fm is a music albums bittorrent site.  There is a good deal of information on the artists and albums.  All listings are verified to be clean and real.  If you are looking for a public, music only, bittorrent site, then this is the place to look.  It is an ad free site.  The amount of listings is still quite small, being in the thousands.

Take.fm is the sister site to Coda.fm, specializing in movies.  It is similar to Coda in layout and all of its listings are also verified to be clean and real.  At this time there appears to be just shy of 2000 listings.  Hopefully the site listings will grow as time goes by as a clean movie search site is needed in bittorrent.

Podtropolis lists only iPod compatible content.  I could not find statistics, but there appears to be a good amount of content listed (although certainly less than the popular sites above).  This is not available to USA users (where I am).   I was able to access through a proxy service.

YIFY Torrents This is the site of a release group that has an excellent reputation for quality rips with small file size.  All torrents are those of the release group.  All the releases here should be clean and real.

NyaaTorrents is the site to check out for Anime.  The torrent links in blue are A+ in quality, meaning they are the best copy available.  The torrent links in green are from trusted uploaders. Thanks to Capcapper for this site.

Smithsonian's History Explorer (Website of the Week)

0
0
The site is geared towards American history, but I think there's enough material to interest anyone who enjoys these kinds of sites. There's also the main Smithsonian Museum's website and its offshoots, where one tend to get lost for hours. :) 

Open Culture

0
0
Open Culture gives you access to high quality educational content whenever and wherever you want it. There's a lot of free content to choose from; online courses, online certificate courses, free textbooks, audio books, textbooks, business courses and language lessons, kids education and more. There are 800 Free Online Courses from Top Universities, 500 free ebooks in several popular formats, 525 free movies, language lessons in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Lectures and K-12 resources are also available. The main formats for the content is on the Web or via iTunes video and audio, and YouTube.

Search 60 Million archived newspapers

0
0

Google abandoned its plans to digitise huge numbers of newspapers a couple of years ago.  However, the results of its original efforts are still online, in the form of a searchable archive of 60 million pages from some of the world's best-known newspapers (and some little-known ones too).  The scans go right back to the 1800s, and offer a fascinating glimpse into the past.  

So if you're into history, or just curious to see whether anyone you know was mentioned in a newspaper in recent years, head to http://news.google.com/newspapers and see what you can find.

The papers can be read by using the + symbol at the top of each paper that's opened to zoom in closer to the text.

Windows 7 ultimate upgrade

0
0

If You're Using Windows XP You Need To Read This

On April 8th, Windows XP officially becomes an ex-product. Microsoft will no longer support it, or offer security patches for it, or provide updates for its Security Essentials product running on XP. In addition, because Windows XP will no longer be an official product, other software companies will be under no obligation to support it, and it will become progressively harder to find programs and device drivers for it.

If you're still running XP, it's a good idea to think about replacing it before
April 8th, or as soon as possible after. This means upgrading your PC, or at least your version of the operating system, either to 7 or to 8.1.

Gizmos

Billions Of Free Sudoku Puzzles To Play On The Web

0
0


Sudoku lovers will find plenty of challenges at this site. You can choose Easy, Medium, Hard and Evil levels, with puzzle variations like JigSawDoku, Fill -a-Pix, Link-a-Pix and Hashi for a little more challenge. The the Daily Printable Sudoku Variation (with weekly archives) is great if you like your Sudoku on paper.

http://www.websudoku.com

Best Free Antivirus Software

0
0

Once more thanks to the good people of Gizmos:

Comodo Antivirus

5 Star Rating:5

 

Gizmo's Freeware award as the best product in its class!


Product type:Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer

Pros:

This has full real-time protection capability, including real-time antivirus, behavioral blocking features, cloud-based protection, and an automatic sandboxing function which protects users from nearly all malware.

Cons:

The automatic sandboxing function, although not very intrusive, may be too talkative for some users. Also, by default non-intrusive advertising is enabled (although it can easily be turned off).

Developers website:http://antivirus.comodo.com/download-free-antivirus.php

Download page:http://antivirus.comodo.com/download-free-antivirus.php

Version:Version 7.x

64 Bit compatibility:32 and 64 bit versions available

License type:Unrestricted freeware

Portable version available:There is no portable version of this product available.

System requirements:Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x

Additional information:

Take care to avoid the installation of unwanted software during installation. To do this use the customized installer button, which is on the lower left-corner of the screen during installation. Additional software, including a browser, an ad-blocking addon, and an option paid service which would allow Comodo technicians to help you with computer problems, are all included by default.

Avast! Free Antivirus

5 Star Rating:5

Product type:Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer

Pros:

This has full real-time capabilities, behavioral blocking features, script malware protection, automatic sandboxing of suspiciuos programs, and a low rate of false positives.

Cons:

Default settings require certain user interaction. Bundled with Chrome browser by default (see notes).

Developers website:http://www.avast.com/en-au/free-antivirus-download

Download page:http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Avast-Home-Edition.shtml

Version:Version 9.x

64 Bit compatibility:32 bit but 64 bit compatible

License type:Feature limited freeware

Portable version available:There is no portable version of this product available.

System requirements:Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x, Mac OS

Additional information:

Take care to avoid the default inclusion of Chrome browser during the install process by using the custom install option. The attempt to install Chrome will also be repeated at the program update if the automatic option is chosen.
Quick Start Guide:
http://www.avast.com/download-documentation
Forum:
http://forum.avast.com/

Panda Cloud Antivirus

5 Star Rating:4

Product type:Combines a web service with a stand-alone program

Pros:

High detection rate of malware, web protection, some behavioural blocker features

Cons:

Detection rates of real-world malware is slightly lower

Developers website:http://www.cloudantivirus.com

Download page:http://filehippo.com/download_cloud_antivirus

Version:Version 2.x

64 Bit compatibility:32 and 64 bit versions available

License type:Free for private use only

Portable version available:There is no portable version of this product available.

System requirements:Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x

AVG Anti-Virus Free

5 Star Rating:4

Product type:Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer

Pros:

Behavioural blocker

Cons:

Slightly lower signature detection rates

Developers website:http://free.avg.com/au-en/homepage

Download page:http://filehippo.com/download_avg_antivirus_32/

Version:Version 2013.x

64 Bit compatibility:32 and 64 bit versions available

License type:Free for private use only

Portable version available:There is no portable version of this product available.

System requirements:Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x

Additional information:

Forum for support

Avira AntiVir Personal Edition

5 Star Rating:3

Product type:Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer

Pros:

Outstanding detection of malware

Cons:

Not the most user friendly

Developers website:http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

Download page:http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/AntiVir-Personal-Edition.shtml

Version:Version 14.x

64 Bit compatibility:32 bit but 64 bit compatible

License type:Free for private use only

Portable version available:There is no portable version of this product available.

System requirements:Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x

Additional information:

Forum: http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?langid=1
Online help:
http://www.avira.com/en/support/kbsearch.php

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition

5 Star Rating:3

Product type:Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer

Pros:

High detection rates, very user friendly

Cons:

Lack of customization

Developers website:http://www.bitdefender.com.au/solutions/free.html

Download page:http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html

Version:Version 1.x

64 Bit compatibility:32 bit but 64 bit compatible

License type:Free for private or educational use only

Portable version available:There is no portable version of this product available.

System requirements:Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.

 

More infor available: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm

Free Linux course

0
0

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/coming-soon-take-2400-linux-course-free.htm

EdX is an amazing web site that offers around 150 courses, from the world's top universities, which you can study, online, completely free.  There are a variety of topics to choose from, as you can see from the screen shot below, and you can take the courses at your own pace.  Just view the online notes and lectures when you want to, and many of them are ready for you to study right now.  Just head to www.edx.org and register (it's all free).


Stay safe on the Internet

0
0

Want to be safe on the Internet? Here is a collection of articles that will help you understand the tricks and tactics used by malware writers and that explain how to set up some powerful computer defenses. Read these and you will be well prepared to protect your computer against hackers and cyber criminals.

1. What is two-step authentication?
With databases being broken into and passwords stolen all the time, complex passwords are no longer a sufficient security measure. An additional defense is “two-step authentication”. This helps protect your account from unauthorized access if someone manages to steal your password. This article explains how it works.

2. Ad injection and you - how adware gets on your computer
Microsoft discussion of how you get tricked into downloading adware or worse

.

3. Different Kinds of Malware Explained 
Malware is a commonly used catch-all term for any type of harmful software but there are many different kinds. Viruses, worms, Trojan horses and a variety of other bad stuff are explained in this article.

4. Buffer Overflow Basics
The most common type of security weakness is something called “buffer overflow”. A major portion of malware attacks target this weakness. This article explains what buffer overflows are and how malware uses them.

5. What is a DDoS attack? 
We constantly hear about some website being attacked and taken off the air by hackers using DDoS. If you ever wondered what a DDos attack involves, this article explains.

6. How to protect your Windows XP system after April 2014 
There are still many users of Windows XP. What to do when Microsoft discontinues security updates? This article gives some answers. One excellent security measure to consider is also discussed in link 11 given below.

7. Free Network Sniffers, Analyzers and Stumblers
A collection of free software for analyzing who’s doing what on your network. Programs for Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Android.

And let’s not forget the formidable assembly of security information right here at Gizmo’s. Pay attention to what is said in the articles linked below and you will be well armed against attempts to invade your computer. Here are just a few from the outstanding selection of security articles that are available on our site.

8. How to Tell If A Website Is Dangerous
These days you never know what might be on a website. This article gives clear and detailed explanations of how to check out a website.

9. How to Stay Safe While Online
Step-by-step procedures for making your computer safe

10. What Else Have You Just Downloaded?
It’s all too common these days – downloads are bundled with stuff you don’t want or try to install things you didn’t ask for. This article tells you what to watch out for.

11. An Introduction and a Quick Guide to Sandboxie
Over the years, I have recommended Sandboxie to many people. A typical reaction is, “It sounds very interesting but it’s too complicated for me.”  This article removes that excuse. With the clear explanations that are given there, almost anybody can set up the really powerful defense provided by Sandboxie.  I especially recommend Sandboxie  to those who wish to continue using Windows XP.

12. Safe Computing in Under an Hour
A quick way to get your PC ready for the dangerous world out there.

And there you have it - use the information in these articles and you’ll be much safer on the Internet.

Information from: v.laurie , courtesy of Gizmo


Finds of the week

0
0

Windows XP: Interesting Facts to Remember
This is an interesting collection Windows XP trivia. It's a short and good read. :)
Thanks go out to Mary at Spiceworks for the site suggestion :)


4 Ways To Factory Reset Your Windows Computer
Sometimes a computer needs to be restored to factory conditions, whether it's a virus or some other reason. I like this article because it lists what key you need to press at boot up for various manufacturers. It's good to note that restoring computer to factory conditions means that all your programs, documents, windows updates, etc. will disappear. Back up anything that's important to you before restoring a computer. This isn't mentioned in the article but you can make an image of your hard disk drive. That gives you a cloned copy of everything on your hard disk drive. There are detailed direction from Gizmo
here.
If you know what you are doing check out our
Best Free Drive Cloning Softwarecategory.

Check User Name Available At Multiple Sites
Check to see if your desired username is available at dozens of popular Social Networking and Social Bookmarking websites.

15 Brilliant Websites That Will Inspire And Change Your Life
This a quite a diverse list of sites, most anyone will find something of interest here.


19
Perfectly Camouflaged Animal Photos by Art Wolfe I've always liked camouflaged images. When I saw these 19 photos by long time favorite photographer Art Wolfe I had to share. :)

Information from Gizmos


Walton Magazine

0
0

Latest Issue:

Walton Magazine – Issue 5

Includes: Special on The Spaces Apps Challenge, Cancer Research in Ireland, The Age of All Things, Digital Health Apps, The European Space Agency, Back from the Dead, Digital Privacy and Social Media in Ireland

FREE until Sunday April 13th (Normally €2 per digital PDF copy)

 


Want to view this on your ipad! You will need a Download Browser, once down loaded you can use iBooks to view and read it.

Top 5 Best Android Apps to Save Battery Life

0
0

These are the best battery saver Android apps in Google’s Play Store. These aren’t your average run-of-the-mill power saving options — we’re looking at apps that actually work as intended and help your device make better use of its battery.

That said, here are the top five best battery saver Android apps.

DU Battery Save

DU Battery Saver easily comes in as one of my favorite battery saver Android apps. It seems to work better than most built-in power saving options, and has a whole lot more features to take advantage of than some of the more average power saving apps.

There are various intelligent mode and pre-set options that you can set up to make sure you’re using as little battery as possible. Du Battery Saver even has a few of its own widgets to make things easily accessible. All in all, DU Battery Saver is one of the best battery saving Android apps you can get.

Easy Battery Saver

Another great battery saver Android app is Easy Battery Saver. In some ways, it works the same Du Battery Save does, but it’s unique in that it gives you a quick status of your battery levels on the main page, giving you fairly accurate analysis on how much more use you can get out of it.

One of the best advantages of Easy Battery Saver is that it lives up to its name — being user friendly is probably one of the best things about it. It’s definitely one of the best battery saver Android apps out there.

Battery Widget Reborn

Battery Widget Reborn is another one of my favorite battery saving Android apps, mainly because it has a lot of features, a notification icon, and some really useful widgets.

Honestly, it’s one of the more thoughtful and well designed battery saving Android apps on Google Play. Additionally, it has the Dashclock Extension that lets you activate your camera flash to use as a flashlight. It’s not like those two features are a must have, but the Dashclock Extension is certainly a nice addition for us Dashclock users. For more info on Dashclock, click here.

As for more useful features, there are a few power saving options that automatically kick in during the night while you’re sleeping, such as turning Airplane Mode on. Overall, it’s one of the more useful battery saving Android apps, so check it out.

JuiceDefender

JuiceDefender has tons of different preset modes. For the most part, all of them work wonderfully, and one of the more unique things about JuiceDefender is that it scales the CPU when your device is idle. In other words, the processor isn’t taking as much power when you just aren’t using it.

It has an easy to use interface, it can turn mobile data off automatically, and most of all, it can extend your battery life for long periods of time. It’s also one of the most recommended battery saver Android apps. Most of the app is free, but some features will want you to purchase the Plus or Ultimate version. Either way, though, it’s one of the many loved battery saver Android apps.

Battery Doctor

Battery Doctor is one of the more popular battery saving apps for Android. Battery Doctor is nice because it not only is designed to speed up your device, but also features a built-in task killer to get rid of the apps taking unneeded space and power in the background, like bloatware that many Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and other carrier branded phones come with.

This battery saver Android app actually shows information very accurately. For example, it will show you how much battery power you have left after shutting down various features on your phone, such as Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, and etc.

One of the best parts of this app is how accurately it gauges battery levels, and that’s probably one of the best features you could ever get so you actually have an idea of when your device is going to run out of battery, based on your consumption patterns. It’s nice to know how much time you have left, and can be very helpful.

Wrap Up

There you have it – some of the better battery saving apps for Android.  There are a lot of power saving apps out there, but some of them just don’t work as we want them, too. Of course, you don’t always need an app to save battery life. There are plenty of things you can do on your own to eek out that last bit of juice.

Often, basic things like changing your wallpaper to a darker color will help lower battery consumption. Getting rid of background data and live wallpapers can be a huge help, as well. And finally, the more apps you have installed, the worse your battery performance is likely to be, so be sure to keep only the apps that you actually use.

Final Thoughts

While these are some of the more advanced battery saving Android apps out there, it’s important to note that nothing will extend your devices battery life like you changing up your usage patterns. Any battery saving app that functions as a ‘task killer’ should be avoided at all costs. Android is a multitasking operating system, and, as such, keeps apps in the memory so that they can be accessed quickly. Android has been designed use up most of the available memory, and keeps often used apps in the background. If a manager (app) comes and closes them, they will simply reinitialize, and consume a lot of battery in the process.

Check out our best battery saving tips and tricks here, you’ll find some fantastic tips inside. 

Do you have any battery saver Android apps you’ve used in the past? Did you like them?


List of useful websites for adult literacy

0
0

 

Recommended Websites      

 

NALA – Write On

Writeon.ie

This is NALA’s interactive website to help people improve their reading, writing and numbers skills online. The content is pitched at FETAC Level 2 and Level 3. Users can study at the own pace and in their own time to improve their skills or get a national qualification.

http://www.writeon.ie    

 

Worksheets and video clips from NALA’s Read Write Now, Really Useful Guide and Written Off series are on this site. Very useful if you are looking for something in particular from the Read Write Now Books or would like to watch an instruction video.

www.resources.writeon.ie

 

Information related to the RTE programmes on Literacy. Printable and online exercises.

www.readwritenow.ie

Literacy Tools

Literacy tools are for adults who would like to improve their spelling, reading, writing, number and computer skills.

http://www.literacytools.ie

Tipperary ETB Adult Learning Scheme

This website has lots of useful Tutor resources and guidelines, including information on local services and a Tutor Forum.

http://www.southtippals.com/tutors.htm

BBC Skillswise

BBC Skillswise

 

This section of the BBC Skillwise website will explain the sounds of English, recognising letters and words, skimming and scanning, reading and understanding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic-group/reading

 

BBC Skillswise offers free maths resources, including explanations, videos, quizzes and games.  It is designed primarily for tutors to use as a resource, selecting activities for their learners.  However, many tutors have shown their learners how to use it and navigate around it to learn and practice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic-group/numbers

Handwriting, filling in a form, writing a letter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic-group/writing

For working on a variety of spelling games and printable worksheets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic-group/spelling

 

Family Learning

Family Learning UK

Here you will find lots of information and links to useful resources to explain various aspects of the UK school curriculum.

http://www.familylearning.org.uk/

Clare Family Learning Programme

Clare Family Learning Resource Pack was published in 2000 to support parents helping their children's emerging literacy and numeracy skills. As courses were piloted, research carried out and resources published, the Clare Family Learning Project became nationally renowned for its programmes, training and materials.

http://www.clarefamilylearning.org/

Numeracy

Telling the Time

This site offers three interactive activities to help work out the time and understand time.  The interface is adult friendly.  Activities include: Telling the time, AM or PM and the 24 hour clock.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/time/

LLU

Free, customisable templates for practising numeracy skills. Designed to be used in a blended approach to learning, they provide tutors with an additional resource to enhance classroom delivery. http://llu.rkl.org.uk.peppermint.arvixe.com/

Maths Online

This website provides lots of maths materials and puzzles.

http://www.mathsonline.org/

Maths Challenge

Maths Challenge is a site providing a wide range of maths questions and tasks on everything from ‘what is a prime number’ to rectangle construction. Users can email a maths challenge or questions to the site.

http://mathschallenge.net/

Making Cents

This site is here to help anyone who is looking for simple answers to basic questions about money. We have 7 money related topics on the left. When you click on a topic you will be brought to a list of questions we have answers to. All our answers are provided in 2 minute or less videos.

http://www.makingcents.ie

Maths4Us

We all use maths everyday, often without realising it. We estimate time, use money, plan journeys, garden, carry out DIY, shop and cook. All these involve maths! Click on some of the resources here to test your knowledge and find out more about everyday maths topics.

http://maths4us.org/help-with-your-maths/

Maths4Life

The Maths4Life project promotes active learning in mathematics.  It has produced numerous resources that can be downloaded from here.

http://www.nrdc.org.uk/publications_details.asp?ID=105

Ideas and worksheets that make real life maths more visible.

www.haveyougotmathseyes.com

 

Maths Printables

 

www.math-drills.com

www.teachingmoney.co.uk/eurosite/euroindex.html

www.ictgames.com

 

Spelling

Spell Zone

It is well known that English spelling is very hard. Are you one of the many people who had problems with spelling at school? If so, Spellzone could help you improve your spelling.

http://www.spellzone.com/single_adult_spelling.cfm

Spell me right - App

Play Spell Me Right (TM) which is a spelling bee like word scramble game. Your goal is to figure out correct word spellings. This is one of the most popular word game on Android Market, and it is free without any annoying ads. If you love word scramblers, spelling bee, crosswords, scrabble, word search, hangman, or other word games, you'll love this amazingly fun game.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.applimobile.spellmeright

Words for Life - UK

This new website Words for Life gives you an idea of what communication milestones your baby and child might reach as they grow. There are ideas for fun activities you can do together to help your children develop their skills.

http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/

 

Look Cover Write Check method of learning a new word.

www.ictgames.com /lcwc.html

 

WordTalk is a free text to speech plugin. It contains a talking dictionary to help decide which word spelling is most appropriate.

www.wordtalk.org.uk/home

 

Various ways to help with spelling  

www.aaaspell.com

We all can read

Students watch a video introducing each lesson, then listen to the audio file in each lesson that corresponds to the text. All of the instructions, all of the information, all of the drills necessary for a student to master the reading and spelling process are presented in a tightly-structured format. Students proceed one-lesson-at-a-time through all 644 online lessons and complete the over 400 worksheets embedded within our online curriculum.

http://www.weallcanread.com/phonics-for-adults.html

ESOL

English for Everyone

The materials found on this website are all the handmade product of members of the Read Theory team. The team consists of a handful of professional writers and educators, many of whom have received advanced degrees, are published authors and award winning teachers.

http://www.englishforeveryone.org/

 

 

One Stop ESOL

About the site: This site contains a lot of tutor resources and advice. It has a comprehensive selection of resources for all skills and all levels. There is a range of beginner lesson plans and tips for teaching grammar as well as a comprehensive ESOL support section with a piece on how to integrate IT into ESOL classes. Students and practitioners need to register to use, but it’s free. Who is it for?

http://www.onestopenglish.com/esol/

London online

This has plenty of excellent virtual activities on it. Shopping at the market is a good one for low levels. Students can operate a lift and put the right change in a shopkeeper’s hand. The themes, such as friends, food and drink and neighbourhood are very topical and there are virtual activities on every theme covered. There are teacher’s notes accompanying each unit. Who is it for? ESOL practitioners and students

http://www.talent.ac.uk/londononline/welcome/home/index.htm

Island Voices

Islands Voices holds over 150 online ESOL listening recordings (including authentic speech interviews) and 75 video clips all CEFR-referenced (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), with transcripts and listed by theme and language content in 4 online PDF catalogues. The documentary clips give a plain language introduction to a topic or event and are complemented with more challenging authentic speech interviews.

http://guthan.wordpress.com/about/

British Council

About the site: This is a huge resource which is full of worksheets, lesson plans, resources and tips for all aspects of ESOL. There is an automatic gap-fill exercise generator which is easy to create and print off. There are a large range of articles on listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, vocabulary, games and teaching resources. On the ‘Learn English’ section of the site there’s a lot of video content with ‘real world English’ and plenty of listening activities and exercises.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/

BBC World Service Learning English

This is an excellent self-study site with audio, video, lesson plans and worksheets. It’s particularly good for pronunciation, idiomatic English and day-to-day English for the workplace. It has up-to-date news and sports stories with reports from around the world on a broad range of subjects. Tasks reinforce good learning strategies for listening with good pre-task exercises. Who is it for? ESOL students and practitioners.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

 

 

Puzzles & Wordsearches 

Puzzle maker

For making word searches, crosswords and other puzzles.

http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/

 

Miscellaneous

Interactive Literacy and Numeracy

This website stands out amongst the rest in terms of ease of use and rich multimedia content. The website is games based so it is quick and fun.

www.ictgames.com

Worksheet  Generator

www.literature.orgWebsite where you can find a variety ofstories

www.toolsforenglanish.comPaste your story into this website and you will be able to create wordsearches, cloze sentences, questions and answers.

 

Help My Kid Learn

A website packed full of fun activities to help children learn every day.

http://www.helpmykidlearn.ie

Khan

Academy

Khan Academy is an award winning site with numerous demonstrations of how to practice maths, science and finance exercises. There are thousands of videos on everything from arithmetic to banking and money. This site is ideal for independent learners.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Skills Workshop

The Skills Workshop provides free adult literacy and numeracy resources.

http://www.skillsworkshop.org

Powerpoint Presentations

Free presentation in powerpoint format and free interactive activities

www.pppst.com/index.html

 

Wikipedia

Up to date information on any imaginable topic. The language can be a bit technical and difficult for literacy students. It may help to use the information but simplify the text.

www.wikipedia.org

 

 

You Tube

Up to date information on any imaginable topic in video form. Use it to listen and learn about a topic, then write a summary with the student. With a little creativity it has great potential: learn about ‘Phonics’ ‘How to cut hair’ or ‘Repair a car’.

www.youtube.com

 

SNIP

Programme can be downloaded for free. Aimed at improving reading and spelling using high frequency words. Literacy Programme Part 1, 2, 3

www.snip-newsletter.co.uk

 

Just World

Basic level worksheets that deal with social justice issues.

www.justworld.ie

 

Dyslexia

Increases readability for readers with dyslexia.

www.opendyslexic.org

 

Time and Date

Create your own calendar. Good site for numeracy.

www.timeanddate.com/countdown/create

Information from:

Isabelle Dumont

How to Lockdown Your Facebook Account For Maximum Privacy and Security

Compose Music Directly On Your PC. No Paper Required

0
0

Once upon a time, writing music involved the use of music notation paper (with those familiar 5 lines), and lots of pencils and erasers.  Nowadays, you can do it much more easily on a computer, using software that's really just a musical version of a word processor.  

Start with an empty sheet of notation paper, then drag notes onto the page at the appropriate point.  You can move the notes around with the mouse if you make a mistake, and you can hear your work in progress at any time just by pressing the Play button.

If you've never tried writing music this way, or indeed if you've never tried writing music at all, Forte 5 is a well-known notation software product for Windows which is available as freeware for a limited-functionality version.  Despite being free, it has everything you need in order to try creating your own tunes.

Forte 5 Freeware is available for download at http://www.fortenotation.com/en/products/writing-scores/product-overview/(check out the last column on the page, and the download link at the bottom).  It runs on all recent versions of Windows, at the 26 MB download is malware-free according to Web of Trust and VirusTotal.  Note, however, that you may be asked to restart your computer after installing it.

Viewing all 89 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images