English: The best 30 free web tools and open source software for students

There are many free Web tools and open source software for students that will help you stay on task and organize your busy life. If you are a student then you are probably wondering how to manage the cost of tuition, books, living expenses – and still pay for the needed software for your student laptop or other computer for research and assignments. Commercial software can quickly eat away at your tight budget. From typing reports to taking and sharing class notes, this list of 30 free Web tools and open source software will help you get through your courses without spending a dime on software. And this is true whether you are a student, a parent, or a person with limited or no resources, thus said, this list is by no means exhaustive, I will from time to time update it. Enjoy:

*Web-based and open source software communication tools

1. Gmail is Google's online email (Web mail) service. You can register for a free email account and access a number of feature including storage, search, built-in chat, mobile access, voice chat, spam filters and more. Google frequently rolls out updates and new features to the Gmail service. [https://mail.google.com/mail/]

2. Meebo integrates a number of online communication channels and platforms into a single service. The Meebo Messenger lets you access your buddies on all the major networks (AIM, Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber) in a single buddy list, right from your Web browser. [http://www.meebo.com/]

3. Opera Mail is a free email client that is built into your Web browser. Opera Mail organizes, indexes, and sorts your messages. It also integrates RSS feeds and a smart spam filter. [http://www.opera.com/mail/]

4. Thunderbird 3.1 is a free, customizable messaging and email client. All you need is your name, email address, and password to get started. Thunderbird is help individuals manage their online communications including email, instant messaging and social networking messages. Thunderbird is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems. [http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/]

*Web-based and open source software collaboration and scheduling tools

5. GanttProject is a free and open source desktop tool for project scheduling and management. The software can be used by students to Share projects and collaborate. GanttProject runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems. [http://www.ganttproject.biz/]

6. WhenToMeet is a web-based scheduling tool that lets students find a common time to meet with others to work on assignments and projects. TimeToMeet can automatically synchronize your calendar from Outlook, iCal or Google and show your appointments all in one place. [https://www.when2meet.com/]

*Web-based and open source software document editing and management tools

7. EditGrid: An online spreadsheet service that offered many of the same features found in Excel. EditGrid allowed you to share, collaborate and publish your spreadsheet online. EditGrid was shutdown in May 2014. But it can still be had here: [https://download.cnet.com/developer/editgrid/i-6286332]

8. Google Docs is a free Web-based productivity spread that gives students free software to work with documents (word processing), spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and forms. You can upload files from your desktop, access the files from any Internet-connected computer, and collaborate with classmates and teachers. [http://docs.google.com/]

9. PDFCreator is an open source program that lets you create PDF files from any Windows program. The software is used like a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows application. [https://www.pdfforge.org/]

10. Zoho Writer is an online word processor that lets students create documents on an individual basis or within a group for real time collaboration. Zoho Writer features a WYSIWYG editor for publishing to blog and you can import (or export) documents from your desktop, Google Docs or anywhere on the Web. [https://writer.zoho.com/]

*Web-based and open source software presentation tools

11. Embeddable Presentations from Google Docs lets you create and collaborate on slideshow presentations. You can add text, images, video and more directly to your presentation slides. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including PPT. [http://www.google.com/docs/about/]

12. Zoho Show 2.0 is an online tool for creating presentations. Zoho Show offers pre-built themes, clipart and shapes coupled with features like drag-and-drop makes it an easy application to use. [https://show.zoho.com/]

* Web-based and open source software task and management tools

13. Google Calendar is a free web-based tool from Google. The service provides an easy way for busy students to create, organize and schedule assignments, lectures, social events and more. You can also share your schedule so family and friends can view schedules that others have shared with you. Google Calendar also helps you to send invitations, track RSVPs and it syncs with desktop applications like Microsoft Outlook, Apple iCal and Mozilla Sunbird. [http://calendar.google.com/]

14. Remember The Milk is a free Web service that can help you manage your tasks online. Remember The Milk lets you create and manage tasks, set due dates and then get reminders about your scheduled tasks through email or instant messenger. You can also create lists and Share, send and publish tasks with other contacts. [http://www.rememberthemilk.com/]

*Web-based and open source software mathematics and modeling tools

15. GNU Octave is an open source high-level interpreted language intended for numerical computations. It provides capabilities for the numerical solution of linear and nonlinear problems, and for performing other numerical experiments. GNU Octave also provides extensive graphics capabilities for data visualization and manipulation. The current version is Version 3.4.0 and it is available for Linux, Mac OS X and other projects have contributed to a Windows binary distribution of Octave and a binary distribution of Octave for Sun systems. There is also a collection of contributed packages for Octave available. [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/index.html]

16. Graphing Calculator from e-Tutor is an online Web tool that lets students enter functions of x using a standard mathematical format. Students simply type one or more equations into the Graph box on the site to use the graphing calculator. [http://www.e-tutor.com/et2/graphing/]

17. Mathway is an online tool that provides students with the tools they need to solve their math problems. Mathway solves problems from the following subjects: Basic Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus and Statistics. [http://www.mathway.com/]

18. Sage is a free open-source mathematics software suite system licensed under the GPL. It combines the power of many existing open-source packages into a common Python-based interface. Sage mathematical software is designed for research and teaching. It is a viable free open source alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica and Matlab. [http://www.sagemath.org/]

*Web-based and open source software for note taking

19. NoteMesh is a free online service that allows students in the same classes to share notes with each other. It works by creating a wiki for individual classes that users can edit. Users are free to post their own lecture notes or contribute to existing lecture notes. [https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/notemesh]

20. WebNotes (Lite version) is a free online service that lets students highlight and add notes to Webpages from within your web browser. The notes are saved automatically and will reappear any time you visit the page. Highlighted web pages and PDFs can be shared with others through email, permalink, or Twitter. [http://www.webnotes.net/]

*Web references and educational guides for students

21. Bookfinder is a search-based online resource that can help students find the best prices on new and used textbooks, rentals, old editions, and international edition textbooks. [http://www.bookfinder.com/]

22. EasyBib is a free Web tool that provides automatic bibliography and citations. The service lets you search for a source, build the bibliography and then print or export it. [http://www.easybib.com/]

23. Google is a multi-functional "app" for students. The search engine can help you find articles for research and it also serves as a calculator, definition finder, a conversion tool and more. [http://www.google.com/]

24. Google News search (with the archive search option) is a good tool for students who need to research historical or current events. [http://news.google.com/]

25. SparkNotes is a Web resource designed to help students understand books, write papers, and study for tests. [http://www.sparknotes.com/]

26. SpellJax is a handy little online Ajax sell checker. Just type (or paste) in the text to spell check it. [http://www.spelljax.com/]

27. Webopedia (That’s us!) is a free online searchable database of computer, Internet and technology definitions. [https://www.webopedia.com/]

* Open source e-learning platforms for educators or opportunity learners:

28. Claroline is an Open Source e-learning and e-working platform that allows teachers to build effective online courses and to manage learning and collaborative activities on the web. The software package is based on PHP/MySQL and has been translated into 35 languages. It is available for Windows, Unix, Linux and Mac OS X. [http://www.claroline.net/]

29. Dokeos is online learning suite software. It is open source and offered as a free download with community-based support. Some features of the platform include SCORM compliant course import, support for multimedia content, test creation, course sequence building, forums, and videoconferencing. [http://www.dokeos.com/]

30. Sakai is a Java-based e-learning platform that provides all the tools needed for online teaching, learning, research and collaboration for education. Those who want to experiment on their own hardware and operating system can download and install an already compiled binary for their platform of choice. [http://www.sakaiproject.org/]

As always, stay safe, and be happy!

- bird

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