I love sharing stuff like this. When I meet “tech people,” I like to ask them for similar recommendations. Here’s my list of productivity tools I can’t live without (and most of the stuff is free too):

Skitch: 1-click uploading of images for fast and fun image sharing. Draw on a blank canvas, take a screen snap and then label or highlight areas in the photo. Useful for creating “How to” sheets. I also use it for drawing classes and use it to record what I am drawing on my screen to make tutorial videos.

Vi.sualize.us: Photo bookmarking made easy. I use this with my art classes. How? I create useful tags and then embed the URL on our class webpage/wiki etc. View my account here.

Diigo: A powerful research tool and a knowledge-sharing community. Don’t just bookmark! Highlight the web! Add sticky notes too. Access and search your findings from any PC or iPhone. Create groups to pool resources for specific projects. (My Diigo name is elemICT)

Google Reader: Keep up with your favorite websites in one easy place. Make everything come to you.

PBWiki: Put all your class notes online for free (2gig limit). Why travel with binders of paper. At least use it as a backup in case of fire. I think I am up to five wikis now! View one of my examples here.

Animoto: Automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your media. Free, fast and shockingly easy. I have blogged and compared photo slideshows before here.

TweetDeck or Twhirl: Both are fast and easy ways to connect with Twitter.

VLC Media Player: A highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac …) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Stickies: Like Post-It notes and available on Mac computers.

Quicksilver: Free download for Mac. Find items on your computer and keep your dock tidy (or empty).

Screencasting: I use SnapzPro, I use and love ScreenFlow, but Jing is free for you. Record your computer screen.

MediaFire: I use this more with my friends than with my students. We use it to transfer/share/grab files from each other for free (100mb upload limit).

And of course, YouTube and Vimeo: both for finding resources and sharing vids. I use YouTube more for school and Vimeo for my personal stuff.