Learn By Doing

A Lifelong Learner Shares Thoughts About Education

  • 30+ Tools For The Amateur Writer
    October 25, 2007 — 04:12 AM PDT — by Sean P. Aune —

    NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is almost upon us. On November 1st, brave souls everywhere will embark on a month long endeavor to write a story of at least 50,000 words. We’ve gathered 30 tools to help those folks who want to try their hand at it.Collaborative Writing

    novlet.com

    Coventi.com – A site offering several different packages, with the cheapest being free for the personal user.

    Google Docs – Part of the Google suite of products, which enables you to invite others to work with you on a document.

    Glypho.com – Put down the basic idea of your story, get a plot and character suggestions.

    Novlet.com – Collaborative writing where you write just a couple of paragraphs at a time.

    Portrayl.com – A site that lets you write one chapter at a time, and when done, release it as a PDF. You can also allow others to write a chapter if you want.

    SynchroEdit.com – A browser-based editor that allows multiple users to edit the same document at the same. Will indicate who’s doing with with colors.

    WideWORD.net – Create a secure document online and then pick who can look at it and participate.

    Writeboard.com – A collaborative writing system by the folks at 37 Signals.

    Writewith.com – Upload your documents and work with others on it together online.

    Zoho Writer – A free online word processor from Zoho.
    Dictionaries & Thesauruses

    dictionary.hm

    Alternative Dictionaries – Sometimes we all need to bend the rules some, and this site gives you definitions of various slang words.

    Cambridge Dictionaries – Multiple dictionaries and references from Cambridge press.

    Dictionary.com – Based on the Roget’s Dictionary. Also gives you quick access to thesaurus.com.

    Dictionary.hm – An AJAX powered dictionary that pops up the definitions as you type.

    Merriam-Webster.com – The online version of the well known print dictionary.

    The American Heritage Dictionary – Over 90,000 words, a full print version of a dictionary put online.

    UrbanDictionary.com – Multiple slang definitions of just about every word you may encounter in every day conversation.

    Word.sc – A user-edited dictionary that lets you vote on definitions and upload photos of the word.

    YourDictionary.com – Gives you the definition and suggest idioms.
    Grammar & Tips

    bartleby.com

    Bartleby.com – A collection of books in the public domain, broken down by category. Has a large election of books on language usage.

    EnglishForums.com – Stumped by a tricky grammar moment? Join these forums to get advice from others who love the language.

    Guide to Grammar & Writing – Gives tips on grammar from the word level up to essay paper length.

    WordNet – Simple in appearance, WordNet is a huge lexicon of the language.

    World Wide Words – Articles on word usage, turns of phrase, weird words, and more.
    Plotting & Writing Tips

    blockbusterplots.com

    BlockbusterPlots.com – Get numerous free tips on how to construct a sensible plot for any story.

    Character Questionnaires – Every good author will tell you that you need to know your characters before you write. This will help you interview them.

    Freytag’s Pyramid – From ReadWriteThink, it explains the concept of “Freytag’s Pyramid” which is the basis of how any plot should be structured.

    The “Basic” Plots in Literature – Describes the theories behind all of the known basic plots, and the schools of thought for each list.

    Tips for plotting for every type of character – A lengthy list of stupid archetype characteristics for just about every type of character.
    Word Processors

    ajaxWrite

    ajaxWrite – An AJAX based online word processor that runs in Firefox. Looks like Microsoft Word so you have a familiar interface.

    Nevercode Docs – A downloadable word processor that allows you to store your documents online so they are accessible anywhere.

    ThinkFree.com – Looks almost exactly like Microsoft Office and offers 1GB of free online storage.

  • A flash game created by Persuasive Games lets users compete to award
    Green Cards under the Merit-Based Evaluation System included in
    legislation recently considered by Congress.

    http://select.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/20070621_IMMIGRATION_GRAPHIC.html

    Powered by ScribeFire.

  • Knowledge Is Priceless but Textbooks Are Not – New York Times
    Bookfinder.com, an umbrella search site that sifts through the inventories of hundreds of thousands booksellers worldwide, started a simple, easy-to-use textbook search tool. The way it works: enter a title, I.S.B.N. or author’s name in Bookfinder’s textbooks search box to navigate a huge database of 125 million new and used books. You can compare prices, shipping costs and the availability of less expensive editions published overseas.

  • eSchool News online – ‘Fair use’ confusion threatens media literacy
    In an age when digital images and recordings to supplement and enhance education are abounding, unnecessary restrictions and a lack of understanding about copyright law are comprising the goal of using such technology in the classroom, says a new report. After interviewing educators, educational media producers and media-literacy organizations, the report’s researchers conclude that educators have no shared understanding of what constitutes fair-use practices, and that teachers face conflicting information about their rights, and their students’ rights, to use copyrighted works.

  • Google Code for Educators – Google: Cluster Computing and MapReduce
    Google: Cluster Computing and MapReduce

    This submission contains video lectures and related course materials from a series of lectures that was taught to Google software engineering interns during the Summer of 2007.