Saving Money on Teaching Materials Books and Software Part 2

Yesterday I began this article to give teachers suggestions on how to save money by using internet resources. We will continue today with two more great suggestions.

• Find the right forums. My wife actually uses a web site to save money on groceries and saves an average of $400 per month. But this site also lists sales for wide variety things including school and office supplies. The site she uses is http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com. She has found me deals on printers, office supplies, videos, software and more. There are other sites out there, but from what I have seen this is one of the best. The downside to shopping like this is you are likely to find exactly what you need right now, but if you periodically check the site you will come across many great deals.
  
• Open Source is free. Open Source software has saved me a lot of money. It may not be the very best available but many applications are of very high quality. I have written articles about many Open source applications that I feel are of worth to teachers, but the offering are very vast, and do almost anything that you can think of. When you are in the market for a new program take a little time to search for an open source alternative, and in many cases you will be pleasantly surprised by what is available. I recently wrote an article about Blender 3D an open source 3d creation software. This application compares with programs like 3D Studio Max or Maya, which cost nearly $5000. For a school environment Blender 3D is more than ample power, and allows you to introduce students to creative power when using the high end $5000 applications are not in the budget.