The Future of Learning

GoView

Capture your computer screen and audio with GoView™, then instantly share your recording online. 
It's quick. It's easy. And it's free!

Record ..

Edit  ... and Share

GoView

[For 66 more screen capture and screencasting tools, visit the Screen capture, screencasting and software demo page in the Directory of Learning Tools]

Elgg 1.5

Elgg 1.5 was released recently.  What is Elgg? 

Well it officially describes itself as a "powerful social networking platform", and of course it can be, and is being, used to power a number of social networks around the world. But I think it is MUCH more than just a social networking platform; it is rather a social media platform, that allows users both to have a personal learning/working environment - where users have access to a range of key tools like blogs, social bookmarking, as well as the ability to upload files and create web and wiki pages  - and also  belong to a number of shared working/learning environments where they can work and learn collaboratively with others.  It can therefore be the basis for a powerful organistional social learning and collaboration netwokr

I am currently helping a number of organisations, including the University of East London, implement Elgg in this way.  There are also other benefits of using a platform like Elgg, e.g. (1) it is so customisable and configurable, we can easily add and delete functionality as we need it, and (2) it is open source, so  we also have access to the wider developer community

If you have an interest in social learning and would like to find out how Elgg can be used to provide a social learning network, then come and join c4lpt.NET. And if you want to find out more and discuss how to use Elgg for Social Learning, then join the group I will be opening shortly.

You can also find out more about Elgg itself at the main website, elgg.org, but if you would liek any consultancy advice or support, find out more here how I can help.

What's been happening this week?

There's been lots happening online this week.  Here's just my personal run down of some of the  interesting news.

It's not even April Fools Day yet, and yet this Twitter hoax managed to get a lot of mileage: Twitter to blame for economic woes.

If you want to keep up with April Fool's Day jokes, then follow April Fools Day (AprFoolsDay) on Twitter

This Twitalyzer tool might prove useful for tracking influence and measuring success in Twitter.

For those in the UK, Twitter Blog reports full SMS Service for Vodafone UK Customers!

Twitter for education? Edmodo is a private micrblogging platform built for use by teachers and students; it has now launched Edmodo 2.0.

Still more about Twitter! YouTube Adds A Twitter Button (as reported in Techcrunch)

And of course the big news about YouTube this week, is that it has launched YouTube EDU, which aggregates the instructional videos from over 100 universities in the US.  Some commentators think that this might become even bigger than iTunes U.

A couple of other interesting tools

• Hunch - helps you make decisions and gets smarter the more you use it, and looks like it ight be on to something
• WikiRank looks at what's trending on Wikipedia

And finally, as 24 March was Ada Lovelace Day, Janet Clarey (of Brandon Hall) put together a great list of Role Models in Educational Technology.  I am honoured to be part of the list, so many thanks Janet.

100+ free websites to find out about anything and everything

Following the popularity of my 100+ websites for learning a language online and 100+ free websites for learning about business, I was asked by a number of readers to produce a list of places where you could find out about anything and everything.  So this is an alphabetical list of websites where you can find out about anything - whether it be a small fact or a large body on knowledge. 

The websites cover a  wide range of informational and educational topics as well as general reference resources and how-to guides, wikis, instructional and how-to videos, podcasts, courses, lessons, tutorials (including open courseware), e-books as well as places to ask questions both online and via your mobile.

The resources are suitable for learners of all ages: students as well as workplace learners and lifelong learners - as well as teachers, educators and trainers.

Let me know of any more, you'd like me to add ...

100+ free websites to find out about anything and everything

yAuthor

Here's a new tool that was submitted to the Directory of Learning Tools yesterday.  yAuthor.com is an on-line service with authoring tools allowing authors to create professionally looking interactive content easily.

You can create tests and interactive lessons with plenty of configurable activities and feedback. It is you who chooses the most suitable layout template for the contents.

This is a PREVIEW RELEASE of yAuthor.com, only free accounts are available at the moment.

yAuthor

[You can find a further 90 course authoring tools on the Course Authoring Tools page of the Directory of Learning Tools]

101 Undiscovered Freebies

You know how I love free tools! Preston Gralla and Adam Pash have "scoured the Internet to come up with 101 innovative, entirely free downloads and services".  Here's their collection in PC World. 

Some of my favourites are included (like OpenOffice, Remember the Milk and ScreenToaster) but there some other great ones too.   You can view the entire list here:

101 Undiscovered Freebies: The List

Computer software in plain English

Another great video from Commoncraft:

A short explanation of how operating systems and software programs work together to make computers useful and customizable.

Commoncraft

Screentoaster: new functionality

Rudy wrote to tell me of the new functionality that they released today at ScreenToaster.com. ScreenToaster is an online tool/service that lets you record, publish and spread video tutorials, demos, lectures and more. You can now ...

1. Upload your videos to YouTube in HD.   YouTube videos now include soundtrack
2. Download in.mov for video editing.  Benefit frm 3rd party video editing tools to rework your videos. 
3. Beta test their recorder API.  Let your users publish videos directly on your blog, forum, website or extranet.  Ideal for collaborative projects, professional tutorials, user support and feedback management.

ScreenToaster

Twibs

As I mentioned yesterday, Twitter is 3 years old and has well over 6 million users. Many of them are businesses with a large number of followers.

Twibs is a Twitter business directory.  At the time of posting, there were 7,010 businesses listed.

twibs

My week on the Web

On 21st March, Twitter celebrated its 3rd birthday (as Mashable and others reported).  Now it has over 6 million over users.  Here are few more Twitter articles I came across

• Twenty Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom
  
• The 14 Types of Twitter Personalities from Media Caffeine
• 100 Tips, Apps, and Resources for Teachers on Twitter from Online College Degree

Other news ..

• Elliott Masie released the results of his Social Learning Survey
• Furl, the social bookmarking site, has now been absorbed by Diigo

And at the C4LPT website  ...

• 43 Learners and 16 Learning Professionals have now shared their favourite tools for learning.  You can compare the two different Top Tools lists (one for Learners and one for Learning Professionals) as they are compiled from the contributions.  Everyone is invited to share their Top 10 Tools for Learning.