5 of my favourite digital tools [3-min read]

If you’ve ever wondered exactly how I create my resources and which digital tools I use, here is a short breakdown of 5 of my favourites!

1. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint - It may be a bit basic and simple, but I create my full workbooks on Microsoft Word and my lessons are on PowerPoint. I do this so they are compatible and easily editable for everyone who purchases them. I know how frustrating it can be to download a resource that is a PDF, only to find an error (or that it's written in a font you can't stand - ahem *Comic Sans* ahem) and you can't change it.
2. Royalty-free photo websites - I use Unsplash the most for photos in my resources, as I think they are super stylish and they showcase diversity much more than other websites (except nappy.co, which is brilliant in this respect). For illustrations, my go-to is Pixabay. All 4 websites mentioned here (Unsplash, Nappy, Pixabay and Pexels) are royalty free and the photos are free. Occasionally I will pay for an image from a website like Shutterstock, if I can't find anything suitable on the free ones.
3. Audio files - For my dictations workbooks and listening resources, I use Audacity. I also use this to record my podcast, incidentally. I have the free version and it's great for everything I need.
4. Crosswords - Some of my resources contain crosswords, and Discovery Puzzlemaker has been my favourite crossword maker for as long as I can remember.
5. Graphics and AI pictures - I use Canva for almost all of my social media posts and I've been enjoying playing around with its AI image generator recently for resources. Again, I pay for Canva Pro, partly because I want to support such an incredible company and partly because I find it much more user friendly and quicker than the free version. My Canva top tip is to use the website, not the app, as it's just easier to navigate and move bits of the image around, etc.