The Top 10 Reasons ALL Educators Should Use Firefox

Written by Elizabeth 4 March 2010 15 Comments

I will openly admit that I am a HUGE fan of Firefox. Love, love, love it to pieces. If you’re an Internet Explorer user, that’s ok too… don’t click off my post too fast! Aside from the Firefox developers constantly trying to improve the browser, there are a number of Firefox Add-ons that will make your life as an educator easier and save you time. And tell me – who doesn’t need more time in their day? I know I do. I’ve put together a list of my top 10 MUST-HAVE Firefox Add-ons for Educators. If you don’t already use Firefox, you’ll want to after you read this!

Evernote Add-on – Evernote gives you the ability to type a note, snap a photo, clip a webpage, grab a screenshot – basically anything – and then Evernote will organize it, process it, index it, and make it searchable for you. Now, I know there are some Evernote fans out there. But did you know there is an Evernote add-on for Firefox? If you already have Evernote installed on your Mac or Windows, the clips you take using the Firefox add-on will go directly to the local application. Talk about time saver!
FireShot Add-on - The Fireshot add-on creates screenshots of webpages where you can edit the screenshot, add text, draw on it (shapes and lines), and even save, copy, email, export or print! What I like about this add-on is that there are no programs to download or install to your computer! The snapped images opens up in a new browser with all of the editing tools right at your fingertips!
Picnik Add-on – As you may or may not know, Google recently acquired Picnik. Picnik is the easy (and free) way to fix your photos! From cropping, resizing, rotating, adding special effects, adding fonts, shapes…the sky is the limit! The Firefox add-on for Picnik gives you the ability to “Send to Picnik” or even “Edit image in Picnik” directly from the web page you’re on! Neat!
Stopwatch Add-on - The Stopwatch add-on is easily a life saver! How many times have you needed a quick timer for classroom activities? Or quick breaks between activities? This add-on is an easy, quick, and free resource for those times when you need a stopwatch!
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Too Many Tabs Add-on - I don’t know how many times I’ve realized I have about 30 Firefox tabs open at one time (you know you are guilty too!) but the Too Many Tabs add-on allows you to store as many tabs as you like but adding extra rows into Firefox! It saves your browser’s space and memory as idle tabs are put to the side.
Morning Coffee Add-on - Not only do I love this add-on because it has coffee in the name, but I love it because it is CONVENIENT! Everybody has a morning routine. Everybody. There are always so many things I want to check and read in the mornings but quite honestly, I just forget which one, where, and how often to check them. So, maybe you know that your favorite blogger always posts on Wednesdays…well guess what? You can add their site to Wednesday’s links through Morning Coffee along with any other site you want to check on that day. Once you click that day through Morning Coffee, it will open up all your links in separate tabs so you can keep up-to-date with all your favorite sites! How awesome is that?
Kidzui Add-on – Kidzui was designed specifically for kids ages 3-12 to browse the internet safely. This resource is an online web browser that is meant to “keep kids safe online, and empower their curiosity.” Not only does it provide them with a safe search environment, but it provides them with games, websites, videos, and photos already reviewed by parents and teachers everywhere. With the Kidzui Firefox add-on, it turns your browser into a kid-safe environment with all the resources mentioned above.
Thesaurus Add-on - I personally love Reference.com’s Thesaurus – I use it all the time. This Thesaurus Firefox add-on is pretty self explanatory and will make your life so much easier. Anytime I don’t have to open up a new tab to get a response is a good thing. So, use the Thesaurus add-on to get suggestions – right at your fingertips!
QuickWiki Add-on – Imagine you’re on a webpage and you find a word you want to look up on Wikipedia. Instead of having to open up a new tab/browser, type in the URL, select English (or whichever you prefer), then type the word, all you have to do is select the word, right-click and voila! Wikipedia answers right there!
Colorful Tabs Add-on - I actually found out about Colorful Tabs from Steve Dembo’s presentation at FETC this past January. To me, it’s more of a “fun” add-on. It colors every tab you have open (in a different color) and makes it easier to distinguish between tabs. Essential and fun – get it!

So, there is my top 10 MUST-HAVE Firefox Add-ons for Educators. If you haven’t already, download Firefox and get these awesome Add-ons!

Did I miss any you love? Please share!

15 Comments »

Hello world! « Empower, Facilitate, Expedite, Extricate said:

[...] article on the benefits of using Firefox from [...]

5 March 2010 at 10:47 am

David Hopkins said:

I try not to use the browser to show me the page as it should be delivered, without all the browser add-ons, even if the page is poorly written and full of errors.

I still have not settled on a specific browser, having tried IE 6 / 7 / 8, Firefox 1 / 2, Netscape (when there was one) and now Chrome.

I’ll keep searching until one ‘feels’ right.

Thanks for this list though, one I’ll bookmark in case I come back to Firefox.

David

[Reply]

Elizabeth Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 9:08 am

Maybe also try Avant – I know Shawnette uses Avant ( http://www.avantbrowser.com/ ) sometimes and she loves it! It’s so important to find a browser you love… good luck!

[Reply]

5 March 2010 at 2:55 pm

Suzanne Whitlow said:

I too loved Firefox for its add-ons, especially Xinha for html editing on the spot. However, lately Firefox crashes 8-10 times every day for me. On my student’s machines, I hate that if the previous child forgot to quit the program, it tries to restore the session, even though every class shuts down when finished; (each child has their own log in). Very confusing for a 6 year old for sure.

[Reply]

Elizabeth Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 9:06 am

You know, I heard from someone else that Firefox was crashing a lot for them. Fortunately, I haven’t experienced that. Maybe there is an upgrade that needs to be installed?

By the way, Xinha is AMAZING!! For those who don’t know, it’s a PORTABLE WYSIWYG editor! Here’s the link for anyone interested:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1449

Thanks so much for sharing, Suzanne!

[Reply]

5 March 2010 at 4:28 pm

web safe fonts | All About Internet said:

[...] The Top 10 Reasons ALL Educators Should Use Firefox [...]

6 March 2010 at 6:15 pm

Lewis S. Fowler, ITS said:

Additional MUST have add-ons for mangement purposes:
* AutoCopy – just highlight text in any page & instantly it’s coppied to the clipboard.
* MenuEditor – easily remove menu cmnds from the menu bar & stop kiddo’s from changing/manipulating things you don’t want done.
* PublicFox – lock down preferences, downloading, & extra cmnds via password. Also includes a small webproxy filter for unwanted sites!

With these installed and corectly configured, students will surely remain ON TASK!

FireFox IS the browser of choice and as the writer exclaims…”save you time & make your life easier.”

[Reply]

Elizabeth Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 9:04 am

These are great! Thank you for sharing your favorite Firefox Add-ons!

[Reply]

9 March 2010 at 9:50 am

@hyponastic said:

For anyone doing academic research, Zotero is essential.
Easy enough to use that it could be introduced in high school.

http://www.zotero.org/blog/10-reasons-your-institution-should-adopt-zotero/

[Reply]

9 March 2010 at 8:28 pm

Dave said:

I’ve tried Firefox but I have found Google Chrome to be even better. It’s faster, easy to use, and has some great add-on’s and features.

1. Combined address and search bar – just type in the URL or a search term and it goes to the site or searches your term. Simple.
2. Add-on’s – lots of them. I use Google URL shortener, Google Translate, Session Manager, IE Tab, Aviary, ChromePad, Google Calendar next appointment, Clip to Evernote, and a few others.
3. Customizable scripts in bookmarks bar – there are lots of user scripts that work like extensions for the bookmarks bar. This opens up even more functionality. I use Chrome Dual View and Download YouTube.
4. Stable and secure.
5. Easy tab management.
And much more.

Here’s my review of Google Chrome too: http://goo.gl/JDKb

Nice article!

[Reply]

Elizabeth Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 9:06 am

I occasionally use Chrome. It IS really fast! As long as you didn’t write an ode to IE, I’m good