Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 1 Comment »
For years I’ve been carrying around and talking about a 3 ring punched notebook map as a great example of what I call an “incidental learning tool,” a tool that can be useful without direct instruction. It has a map of the US on one side, a map of the world on the other and [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 3 Comments »
When asked to write your name and address at a convention, give a business card instead to save writing it. The person collecting names and addresses can simply staple or paper-clip your card onto the form. At conventions/conferences, carry a load of business cards for this purpose. Even if you’re a kid and don’t work [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 No Comments »
When asked to write your name and address on a form, use a mailing label to save writing it. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to write your name and address many times, bring a roll of mailing labels with your name and address on them.
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 2 Comments »
Use Highlighter Tape to highlight text in books or places that can’t be permanently altered (instead of a highlighter pen). Applies and lifts off easily, and is a great way to learn how to highlight without the problems associated with permanent hilighter pens. www.leeproducts.com
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 2 Comments »
Scissors have come a long way since I was a kid who couldn’t use them. One can now buy molded scissors for right or left hand that help force the pressure to actually make a cut.My favorite scissors are Fiskars Soft Touch Scissors because they don’t force handedness and cut quite well. I have both [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 No Comments »
I love my Panasonic digital voice recorder. I’ve had numerous models, mostly Panasonic (learn one, stick with it) and use them all the time. It beats the pants off a tape recorder for quick notes and on the higher end models you can record at different speeds to get more in memory or on even [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 9th, 2004 2 Comments »
If you can’t write, you can still record the information while driving, flying, or walking down the street. Use to record lectures in class or to record your brainstorms while driving in the car. Any inexpensive ($30 or less) will do. If you use a tape recorder to tape lectures in school here’s a tip [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Jul 8th, 2004 No Comments »
© 2001 Gary Sharp I enjoy traveling in the U.S. and overseas whenever possible. Here’s a list of lightweight, compact, and versatile gadgets and gear that I’ve found useful for travel and everyday use. AlphaSmart 3000 www.alphasmart.com Portable word processing device. Weighs less than a pound and holds 100 pages of text. Inexpensive, especially in [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Dec 31st, 2003 2 Comments »
© 2003 Richard Wanderman Most of us now take for granted the almost ubiquitous Hi-Liter pen and have been using them for years in a variety of contexts but consider this: if you don’t read well the Hi-Liter pen can be worse than useless. How many of you have seen students highlight a whole page [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 28th, 2000 8 Comments »
© 2000 Richard Wanderman This article was first published in 1/2000. As I write this it is 4/24/2000. All of the product information below has time value, which means that some of it is out of date now. Digital cameras are now moving toward “commoditization” which means, cheap and plentiful. Hooray for that. Still, the [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 28th, 1999 4 Comments »
© 1999 Scott James sjames@ssd.k12.mo.us For the last three years I had a dirt-simple to operate, but fairly poor quality digital organizer, and I used it constantly. It was a Radio Shack discontinued item that I got for less than $50. I thought of it as my “outboard memory,” and still use my portable analog [...]
Posted in Low Tech Tools on Nov 29th, 1998 2 Comments »
© 1998 Joan R. Manchester jmanches@curry.edu Joan R. Manchester teaches at Curry College. Seiko Inc. (now Wizcom) is shipping a product named The Quicktionary Reading Pen. The Quicktionary is essentially a hand held scanning device. It is small and can be held by adults and children alike. I have found the Quicktionary to be extremely [...]