The Florida Center for Instructional Technology

We have created some brief software guides to supplement our workshops on the applications installed on your Mac. The software guides are in PDF format, and should open up in Safari. The following guides are currently available:

- Click on the XML button to open the RSS feed in Safari.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a podcast? How do I take a screenshot with my Mac laptop? You will find answers to these and other technical questions in this section. We have also included general information about the Laptop Initiative and the Laptop Lounge.

Laptop Initiative Blogs

A blog (short for web log) is a Web page that serves as an online journal.The Laptop Initiative now has two blogs set up. LoungeView covers ideas for technology integration in the classroom from the teacher's point of view. This blog also has many links to copyright-free resources for teachers. The Laptop Initiative Blog at Wordpress.com focuses on useful applications and websites, as well as Laptop Initiative news and announcements.

Student Projects

In this section we will feature projects by USF Laptop Cohort interns that demonstrate successful technology integration in the classroom.

Software Updates/Downloads

Inspiration: Update to 7.6 adds ability to draw directly on interactive whiteboards, transfer capability to Word or Appleworks, Palm sync, and 10 new templates. Download now. (Note: the current version of Inspiration is 8. This update is only for those of you who still have the older version of the program).

Kidspiration: Update to 2.1 adds ability to draw directly on interactive whiteboards, Palm sync, and transfer capability to Scholastic Keys. Download now.

Fugu: This is the software you will need to install to connect to your web space at USF. Fugu is a more secure replacement for FTP (file transfer protocol). Download now.

This short movie (QuickTime, 13.3 MB) takes you through the steps involved in connecting to your web server to upload files.

SmartBoard: You will need to install this software before you can connect your computer to one of our SmartBoards. Download now.

Nvu: Nvu (pronounced N-view, for a "new view") is a cross-platform, open source, free application that allows you to create web pages. It is comparable to Dreamweaver or Frontpage. Download Now.

To learn more about Nvu, visit the Academic Computing wiki.

Synk: Synk is an application that allows you to synchronize two directories. One of those directories can be on a USB or other external drive. This is a great way to synchronize your USB drive with your Mac laptop. Download Now. (Tip submitted by Dan Penoff)

Flip4Mac: This application will let you view video files saved in the Windows Media format using QuickTime. This will allow you to view WMV video files available on the internet in Safari. Download Now

VLC Media Player: This open source application will allow you to view many video formats not supported by QuickTime. If you have a problem viewing a video, you may want to give this free player a try. Download Now

Stuffit Expander: This application opens many compressed file formats, such as ZIP and SIT files. Download Now

Galerie: This program works with iPhoto to allow you to create web galleries using a number of fancy templates. This is an alternative for users who do not have a .Mac account but want to create web galleries that are better looking than the ones created by choosing Share > Export. Download Now

iPhoto Diet: This application lets you save disk space by cleaning up your iPhoto library. One of the features of this application will allow you to easily find duplicates in your iPhoto library. Download Now

iPhoto Buddy: This application allows you to open multiple libraries in iPhoto. This is useful if you have a lot of pictures and it takes too long to open up iPhoto. You can set up iPhoto to use multiple smaller libraries and then use iPhoto Buddy to switch between them. Download Now

FlickrExport Plugin for iPhoto: This plugin lets you export your pictures into the Flickr online photo sharing program from within iPhoto. This feature will save you time if you use the Flickr site becasue you won't have to upload pictures one at a time (you can upload a whole folder at once using this plugin). Download Now

Bubbleshare Plugin for iPhoto: Bubbleshare is a website that allows you to create great looking slideshows of your pictures. You also have the option of narrating each slide with your own voice. The iPhoto plugin will allow you to upload entire iPhoto albums to the website, saving you a lot of time. Download Now

GNU Image Manipulation Program: This is a free, open source, cross-platform image editing application that has many of the features of commercial applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks. In order to run the GNU Image Manipulation Program you will need to install X11 from your Tiger Install CD (it's in System > Installation > Packages on the CD--look for X11User.pkg). Once X11 is installed you will be able to run many Linux applications on your Mac. Download Now

Image Well: This is a free image editing program that is also very easy to use. From their website: "ImageWell is the popular image editing software for quick manipulation and upload to an iDisk (.mac account), FTP server or other web server. Whether you are adding images to your documents, editing offline images, or posting photos to the web for others to see, ImageWell will do the work for you.
Drag images in and out of the well, resize, crop, shape, rotate and add a watermark, border, or drop shadow. No need to launch multiple applications to add text, labels, arrows, circles and squares to your image. Add a thought cloud or talking balloon. A few simple clicks, copy, paste, and send them off to your web server instantly. At the click of a button the image is sent and a handy URL is copied to the clipboard. Just like that, it doesn't get any easier!" Download Now

Digital Content:

Freeplaymusic.com: This is a great site to download short audio files you can use as background music in your iMovie projects. These audio files are available for non-commercial use. Visit Now

Stock Photography/Clipart
Below are some great sites you can use to download copyright-free stock photography for use on you website or iMovie project: Of course, many of the photos available on these sites make great desktop backgrounds as well.

iWork/Powerpoint Templates

FCIT has recently published a website with Powerpoint templates and Keynote themes you can download for free. The site also has more than 20,000 backgrounds formatted for both Powerpoint and Keynote and it is aimed specifically at teachers and students. This site also has links to other online resources, including free photo, video, and music sites.

You can download additional templates to use with Pages and Keynote from iWorkCommunity.com. This website has a section for education templates where you will find templates for lesson plans, quizzes, and more.

Powerpoint Games/Activities

You will find many Powerpoint interactive games and other activities you can use in your lesson plans on this website. The website was created by the Jefferson Country School District in Tennessee.