My Daily Apps-etizers!

I did a lot of driving this weekend.  And while on the road, I was reflecting on how so many of my work habits have changed in a year.  Along with new assignments and responsibilities, I have adopted some new apps to help me get my work done.  Here is a short list of the apps I use on a daily basis as part of my "work."


Basecamp.

I mentioned in iPad Projects that I was trying out some new cloud-based project management software called Basecamp.  I currently have a dozen work and personal projects going on it.  I have to admit the only features I am taking full advantage of are the "To Do" lists and Milestones", but I check them daily and use them to push my projects forward.


Kindle App
Many people don't realize that Amazon's Kindle Books are readable from all varieties of computers and mobile devices.  All of my course texts are on Kindle and I read them across three different computers as well as my iPad.  I've so quickly gotten used to it that the thought of actually hauling the old-fashioned course books around seems inconceivable to me.


PDf Expert
PDF Expert "lets you read and annotate PDF documents, highlight text, make notes, draw with your finger and save these changes which are compatible with Preview and Adobe Acrobat."  When I am going to give a short presentation, I usually toss my file into PDF Expert and add notes to it from my iPad, right up to the last second.


Dropbox
Dropbox is not new to me, but I now store 95% of my file there.   The only reason I ever use a USB flash drive is for sharing with another person.  I have only recently used shared dropbox folders to gather files from students, but when I check in with you next school year, you can imagine that it will have become one of my standard practices.


Noteshelf
As an administrator, I've had to get used to bouncing from one meeting to another.  I now take virtually all of my notes on Noteshelf for iPad.  Its fluid handwriting features are really nice and the export functions to Evernote and Dropbox seal the deal!


Flipboard
I am quite addicted to Flipboard for iPad.  While my employer does not directly benefit from my predilection to start flipping through its pages while I am supposed to be listening at one of the aforesaid meetings, this blog certainly does.  I get more inspiration for blog postings and stay better abreast ed tech gossip via Flipboard than any other single source.  It has displaced my Google RSS Reader in this regard.