Jane's Pick of the Day

Top Tools for Learning 2009

In 2007 and 2008, many learning professionals from around the world shared their Top 10 Tools for Learning which we used to create the Top 100 Tools for Learning.  This year I'd like your help to build two lists:

1. Top 100 Tools for Learners
2. Top 100 Tools for Learning Professionals
   

1 - THE TOP 100 TOOLS FOR LEARNERS 2009
These will be the top tools Learners use for their personal learning, be it formal or informal.  

I asked the group of learners on the MSc in E-Learning at Oxford University (where I am a Visting Lecturer) to kick-start the search for the Top Tools for Learners for me, by sharing their Top 10 Tools.  Their collective Top 10 was as follows.

1. YouTube
2. Facebook
   Google Search
   Wikipedia
5. Firefox (and extensions)
   Google Scholar
7. Google Mail
   Skype
9. PowerPoint
   Word

Contribute your own top 10 tools
This category is open to ANYONE to contribute - students in full or part-time education, workplace learners and/or lifelong learners.  Please use the online form to share your Top 10 Tools for Learners and/or encourage others to do so.

View the individual contributions - a total of 16 when I wrote this posting - in the spreadsheet.

Warch the Top 100 Tools for Learning list being built at Top 100 Tools for Learners

2 - TOP 100 TOOLS FOR LEARNING PROFESSIONALS 2009
This will be the top tools Learning Professionals use for their own productivity/learning as well as to create learning opportunities/events/experiences/solutions for others (students, employees, etc). 

A few learning professionals have already started to share their Top 10 Tools for Learning Professionals in 2009:

1. Me (Jane Hart)
2. Carol Skyring, Founder and CEO of LearnTel
3. Thomas Stone, Product Design Architect at Element K
4. Hugo Domingos, a multimédia producer and Elearning trainer for the New University of Lisboa, Portugal.

View the individual contributions so far at Top Tools for Professionals 2009 

Contribute your own Top 10 Tools for Learning Professionals
This category is open to any learning professional (from education, workplace learning or CPD). Just send me an email with the information shown on the Share your Top 10 Tools for Learning Professionals page, and I will set up a page with your list.

The Top 100 Tools for Learning Professionals list will be available shortly, once more contributions have been received.

Mendeley

Victor, co-founder of Mendeley, wrote to tell me about Mendeley, free academic software for managing and sharing research papers, which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Mendeeley lets you manage your papers online, discover research trends and  connect to like-minded researchers. Here are some of its features:

1. Automatic metadata and reference extraction
2. Full-text search and filters
3. File management, renaming and folder monitorin
4. Bibliographies in Microsoft Word and OpenOffice
5. Sharing and collaborative annotation
6. Online management and multi-machine synchronization
7. Citation capturing in the browser
8. Research trends and statistics
9. Research profiles and newsfeeds

The founders of Mendeley have investment from the people behind Skype, Last.fm and Warner Music to develop it further

Mendeley

[52 other search and research tools are listed on the (Re)search tools page of the Directory of Learning Tools]

Twitter Toolbar

This handy and easy to use short cut/quicklinks toolbar brings Twitter so close that it is only one click away. You'll have access to a large variety of highly requested tools & resources. And - just as important - the Twitter Toolbar is absolutely FREE to use!

With the Twitter Toolbar you can ...

...visit Twitter with one click.

...update your Twitter status directly

...search Google, Twitter Search, Twellow, Twictionary & more

...optimize your Twitter experience

...research the world of Twitter

The Twitter Toolbar

[The Twitter Toolbar is listed on the Twitter Applications page of the Learning Tools Directory, where you will find 100 other Twitter applications. 

If you'd like to find out more about Twitter, visit the Micro-blogging with Twitter page in the Guide to Social Learning. If you'd like to leave a comment about how to use Twitter in the Workplace, join up to the C4LPT Learning Network and leave your thoughts on the Twitter in the Workplace discussion in the Workplace 2.0 group.]

KwiClick

KwiClick adds another dimension to your web browser that enhances the way you retrieve information from your favorite web services. Get things done quicker with KwiClick.

"Gone are the days of endless toggling between browser tabs. Simply open KwiClick and use it to search Google, YouTube, Amazon, Wikipedia, FriendFeed and more – And when you’re done, you’re still on the website you started on, allowing you to stay focused."  (Thanks Aneta)

KwiClick

[KwiClick is listed on the Browsers & Extensions page of the Learning Tools Directory, where you will find 97 other browsers, extensions, toolbars and players]

Luminosity

Vicki of CM Group told me about their product, Luminosity E-Learning, as follows:

"Luminosity helps you to create and update high quality engaging interactive eLearning quickly and easily. Because it’s so easy to use, you can make sure that your eLearning is always up to date. It’s fast for someone who is not an eLearning specialist to get up to speed, but it has the flexibility to cope with the demands of an experienced instructional designer. Key features that help you to rapidly create eLearning include:

• A comprehensive set of pre-defined page templates
• Extensive media support, including images, Flash, video, audio, and PowerPoint
• A shared media library, making it easy to share and reuse media assets across multiple projects"

Luminosity

[Luminosity is listed on the Course Authoring Tools page of the Learning Tools Directory, where you will find 85 other free and commercial tools, both desktop and web based.  If you'd like to leave a comment about any of them, join up to the C4LPT Learning Network and leave your thoughts on the Course Authoring Tools page there]

What's been in the news this week?

This week, the blogosphere has been abuzz and the twittersphere atwitter with news of Facebook's change in terms of service. I first read about this in the Mashable article, Facebook: all your stuff is ours, even if you quit.  Although Facebook subsequently reverted to the original terms of conditions, Chris Brogan, in his article, Wake up to how you share on the Web  says the reaction to the change, suggests "that most folks don’t really know what they’ve signed on for when using a free service on the web".  Bill Fitzgerald, in his posting, Hands Off, sums it all up nicely too, and points out "at the risk of stating the obvious, none of these are concerns for sites built using open source tools".

Here's some more great Twittery stuff I came across this week:

• Mashable has an interesting list of Twitter Professors: 18 People to Follow for a Real Time Education
• Twitter for beginners is a nice little presentation by Paul Bradshaw, a Senior Lecturer in Online Journalism at Birmingham City University, in the UK
• And if you are looking for a chart to pin on your wall on 6 Ways to Play Twitter, you'll find one at the Fallon Planning blog.

As for blogging, here's a couple of interesting resources I found:

• If you are looking for blogs to read, Carol Cooper Taylor has created a list of 38 ways to find great edublogs
• If you are looking for blogging ideas, then Typepad has produced 10 Ways to Find New Blog Topics

If you work in a Training Department, then don't omit to read the article written by my colleagues at togetherLearn, Jay Cross and Harold Jarche, on The training department of the future. It will give you some food for thought.

Finally, a bit of fun: A 224-Word Palindrome Poem,"Dammit I’m Mad" by Demetri Martin, at Neatorama!

[Keep up with the Learn Tech News here!]

100+ Language Learning Sites

I recently mentioned in a blog posting that I had been asked to compile a list of language learning sites.  A number of my blog readers contributed links - many thanks to them all.  As the list now contains over 100 links to language learning sites, I've now published it on my website.

The language learning sites in the list vary quite a bit:

• some just provide content; others offer a learning community; and a number have both
• the content offered varies and includes web pages, flashcards, podcasts, videos and interactivities
• the community aspects of the sites are enabled via instant messaging, chat or other social learning tools
  
• some sites focus on learning one specific language, others cover a number of languages
• most are free, although a few are commercial sites
  

The list is obviously not complete, so if you know of a language learning site that does not appear on it, then just email me at the address shown on the page, and I will add it to the list.

100+ Language Learning sites

Shutterborg

Thanks to John for telling me about this one.

Shutterborg is a free word processor that runs entirely in your web browser. Instead of using expensive desktop software, Shutterborg makes life easy by allowing you to edit documents online for free. It's easy to get started.

Shutterborg

88 more document tools here.

6 ways to make Web 2.0 work

Over past two years, McKinsey has studied more than 50 early adopters of Web 2.0 who are using technologies such as blogs, wikis, information tagging, prediction markets, and social networks. From this they have drawn six insights on how companies can best use these technologies.

1. The transformation to a bottom-up culture needs help from the top.
2. The best uses come from users—but they require help to scale.
3. What’s in the workflow is what gets used.
4. Appeal to the participants’ egos and needs—not just their wallets.
5. The right solution comes from the right participants.
6. Balance the top-down and self-management of risk.

For more detail, read the full article: Six ways to make Web 2.0 Work, McKinsey Quarterly, FEBRUARY 2009 • Michael Chui, Andy Miller, and Roger P. Roberts

Busuu

Bernhard, co-Founder of Busuu, wrote to tell me about this free online community for learning languages.

Users have access to more than 150  audio-visual learning units covering a wide range of day-to-day topics. The language material is currently available in French, Spanish, English and German but further languages will be added soon. Additionally, the users can improve their language skills with other native speakers of the community, via an integrated video-chat

Launched in May 2008, Busuu currently has more than 80,000 users from all over the world.

Busuu

NOTE:

I've just had a request to compile a list of language learning sites; if you know of any that should be on the list, please let me know by emailing me at jane.hart@c4lpt.co.uk.