The beginning of another school year is right around the corner and I have a feeling it isn’t just the students who are financially strapped this year. Parents, take notice, you might not need to shell out several hundred dollars for software this year – although I would suggest you purchase a smart phone for your child with the money you save. But I digress.

You can read the original post here so I will forgo my lesson on the value of being poor and get right to the point.  Below is an updated list of tools I think every (PR) student should have. Best of all, they are all free.

Computer – File the following under cloud computing. It won’t stress your hard drive and if you go this route you can grab yourself a smaller computer which, brand new, will only set you back a few hundred bucks. Hang out on campus and soak up all the free internet service provided and you have a fully functioning system. No reason to load software, all the following is hosted elsewhere for your use and, best of all, free.

Just about everything you need – Google Docs will give you everything you need to make it through four years of college. Document (word), Form (access), Spreadsheet (excel) and Presentation (PowerPoint), forms email, calendar, tasks and a long list of other new features.  Google even gives you space to store your documents. By the way, I will require all my students to submit their work using google docs to avoid those pesky computer crashes, which apparently happens a lot when final projects are due. If you download gears you can work offline as well. (registration required)

Presentation software – Looking for a new presentation software which will blow your teachers (and everyone else) away, check out Prezi. Very easy to work with and you can upload/download PowerPoint presentations if needed.

Photo storage – Flickr is still the name of the game. Don’t forget to check out their Creative Commons when you need a photo for a presentation (registration required).

Video – Youtube, Vimeo, Viddler and other online video sites will take on those ginormous files you really don’t want to keep on your hard drive and let your friends and family, if appropriate, see your hard work. (registration required)

Wikis – The most important addition to the updated list is the inclusion of wikis. Not sure why I left them off the last one since I have been a die hard wiki users for years. Wikis can be used for all kinds of collaborative work but also for website creation. In fact, I am seeing more and more sites created on a wiki platform which allows for an equally dynamic social media experience. My free favorites include Wetpaint and PBWorks (formally PBWiki). Registration is required and ad-free sites are available for educators or with the purchase of an upgrade.

We are leaving the clouds and what follows is software which must be loaded onto your computer. All of it is still free and free, my friends, is good.

E-mail – If you really don’t like Google (what is wrong with you, Google has changed my life!) for your email then try Thunderbird as an alternative to outlook. Made by the people who brought you Firefox (an alternative to Explorer) it has the same functionality as Outlook and Outlook express with so much more.

Office applications – Open Office – want the same products as Microsoft Office and don’t trust Google, download Open Office and get to work. Every element of office is here. I used open office for a week just to test and never ran into an issue where it couldn’t perform the tasks at hand.

Project Management – Gantt Project Management, Open Project or one I recently started using, Open Workbench – Project management is key to any successful PR campaign. If you aren’t using this, start. It takes a bit to wrap your arms around it so don’t wait until the night before your project is due. As a side, I don’t see this often taught at the college level but used often at most successful PR Firms. Set yourself apart from your doppelganger and use this when appropriate.

pdf Creator – need I say more.

Video Editing – Avidemux will take care of our basic video editing needs although if you are using Windows Vista or Mac OS you should already have software for basic editing.

Social Media – If you are into Twitter, facebook and other social media sites be sure to check out TweetDeck (now also available for your iphone) and Twhirl. Moving back to the clouds People Browser is an awesome visual dashboard for all your online identities.

Dashboards - Speaking of dashboards I have always been a fan of igoogle but there is a new kid on the block. Netvibes which has a killer look and feel to it. In my opinion much more dynamic than igoogle and all the apps seem to be interchangeable. I should also mention Windows Live.

Break time – Now take a break and visit Win Chess to play a game of chess. Even if you don’t know how to play, you will look smart with it on your screen. And, as I learned yesterday, smart people are hot.

Music – For those in need of musical inspiration there is Pandora and  Last.fm. The arguments about which is better could last for days so check them both out and make the decision for yourself.

Misc –

Sugar Sync – sync multiple computers, phones, etc. Note, not free after 45 days.

Text Wrangler a great text editor for general purposes or programming.

Not seeing what you need, check out Sourceforge.net, one of the largest listings of open-source software. Click on the “Find Software” button and check out all the categories. If you use any, feel free to make a donation to the creator.

One last item – not free but worth it. Grab yourself a good Flash drive. They are always handy to have around for those moments when you need to share a document or take one on the go. Also good for backing up your backup just to be safe. One word of advice, the first file you should save is a text file with all your contact information for when you leave it behind. No guarantee you will get it back but at least you will have a chance.

Keep in touch with your parents by blogging (Wordpress.com is still one of my favorites) or if you really, really want to stay in touch feel free to use Google Latitude.

Okay, that’s it folks, what did I forget?