In my role as Co-Chair of the North West Institute of IT Trainers I recently gave an online presentation demonstrating just how many free resources there are available on the Internet and beyond. Originally my intent was to limit myself to free training resources but ultimately I included software and other tools as well.
It proved to be one of our most well attended online events and demand was high for a list of the resources shown. In light of the demand I thought it would be good to share these resources to a wider audience hence this four part series covering free online resources for the IT trainer and in fact the majority of the resources are just as useful if you aren’t an IT trainer.
If you missed part 1 you can find it here and without further ado here’s part 2!
Adobe
Connect Events
Adobe run many events every week and most are recorded for on demand playback at a time and place to suit you, there is an index of available events on the Adobe web site.
Video Demonstrations
In addition to the Connect events Adobe provide demonstration videos of specific technologies.
An example is a recent demonstration of AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime).
Podcasts
Podcasts are audio and/or video files available online from many sources the majority of these are free, especially those listed in the iTunes Store.
iTunes
Let me say this
- iTunes is FREE to download
- iTunes is cross platform
- You do NOT need an account at the iTunes Store to use it
- You do NOT need an account at the iTunes Store to download podcasts
- Podcasts are free in the iTunes Store
Right now I’ve clarified that I’ll tell you why I felt the need to emphasize those points. I have heard so many people explain that they don’t use iTunes because they think they have to pay for it or it won’t work on a PC or they think they do need an account or they are afraid they will be charged – you get the idea!!
Last point with iTunes – where do you get it? Simply download it from Apple.
Now we’ve got past those essential issues it’s time to get on to the good stuff and have a look at what’s available
PhotoshopUserTV
Photoshop User TV is created by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and is presented by 3 photoshop luminaries in Scott Kelby, Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski.
Photoshop User TV is a weekly 30 to 45 minute video podcast of all things Photoshop related with demonstrations, tutorials and news.
All episodes are free for the first two weeks they are available, after that time they are free for NAPP members and purchasable for $2 an episode. So well worth downloading in the two weeks after they are released whilst they are free.
ScreenCastsOnline
ScreenCastsOnline is the brainchild of Don McAllister and is a weekly tutorial based video cast. The topics covered are all related to the Mac platform and cover a wide range of applications and technologies.
LayersTV
Another podcast from those nice people at NAPP this time presented by Corey Barker and Rafael ’RC’ Concepcion.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast
Presented by Adobe’s very own Terry White the Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast covers all the applications in the Creative Suite. Copious tips and tricks as well as longer demonstrations of the feature set of each application.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast web site
Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast iTunes link
Creative Sweet
Creative Sweet TV is presented by Australian Adobe expert Mike McHugh and covers all things Creative Suite related.
InDesign Secrets
InDesign Secrets is an audio podcast presented by David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepcion and covers Adobe InDesign.
theindesigner
Also covering InDesign is theindesigner a video podcast presented by Michael Murphy, a long time InDesign user and Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign.
IT Idiots
Belying the name there’s plenty of useful information to be found in this wide ranging podcast produced by 2 IT professionals and a pharmacist (don’t ask!)
MrExcel
Learn Excel with MrExcel is the video podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel from MrExcel, presented by Bill Jalen. Learn Excel with MrExcel is a two minute video posted every workday to learn one of the 277 tips from the book.
MacBites
How could I not mention it? OK I’ll declare an interest here – I’m one of the presenters of this weekly look at all things Mac related.
In MacBites we discuss the Apple related news items of the week before discussing our experiences of switching from Windows based PCs to the Mac. My section is the Software Review a demonstration/discussion of a piece of Mac software or the demonstration of a technique such as creating global shortcuts for your browsers.
That’s it for part 2 but there’s plenty more free resources coming in part 3 – more video resources, manuals, newsletters and much more.
