Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009: The Final List

Here is the final list of the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009, compiled from the contributions of 278 learning professionals - from education and workplace learning - worldwide.  Thanks to all who contributed their Top 10 Tools for learning. 

Below is the presentation I have shared on Slideshare.  You will also be able to find the full list at my main C4LPT site: Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009.

View more documents from Jane Hart.

I have also produced two other related lists:  One shows the Top 100 Tools by category.  Here you can find, for example, the top blogging tools or mindmapping tools or e-learning authoring tools on the list.

The second list shows the Winners & Losers in 2009, e.g.

• the new tools on the list this year, 25 of them - of which the highest placed is Evernote, followed by Prezi.
• the tools that returned to the list this year after a break in 2008, including Elgg and Picasa
• the tools that moved up the list this year.  Note although Twitter moved up 10 places this year to become the top tool, in fact there were other tools that moved up even more places, e.g. YouTube has jumped 15 places to come in at 3rd place, Slideshare up 13 places, and Google Apps and Bubbl.us moved up 28 places
• the tools that moved down the list this year, e.g. Delicous and Google Reader moved down one place, Powerpoint and Moodle down 5 places, Firefox (2007 winner), Skype and Facebook down 7 places, Word  down 14 places and Bloglines down 56 places
• the tools that moved off the list this year, e.g. MediaWiki, Adobe Reader, Ustream, Yugma, Polldaddy, Exe and Google Scholar

To summarise then: I think this year's list, once again, is a great demonstration of how learning professionals are making use of a wide range of both traditional and innovative tools and services both for personal learning and within formal structured learning contexts.  The fact that Twitter is now the Number 1 tool shows that learning professionals clearly appreciate the power of social media technologies for learning and are demonstrating its use in ways that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.  I also believe that although some well-known tools have moved down or even off the list this year, this doesn't necessarily mean they are  no longer of value for learning; it is much more likely that they are now just "taken for granted".  This year's list once again shows that learning moves on!

Comments

[Simon Duncan]

Brilliant work Jane. 100 tools including loads of social media. I work in the voluntary sector (Regional ICT Champion, Yorkshire and Humber) helping voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) to use appropriate technology well to help them to achieve their objectives effectively, efficiently and sustainably.
To this end I am running a social media experiment looking at how social media tools can be used to help the smaller VCOs who really struggle with knowing where to start. You can find the details on my blog at www.yhictchampion.org.uk Category #socialmediavco.
Simon

[Jane Hart]

Thanks Simon, and good luck with your work - let me know how it progresses.

[mars chen]

Thank you for your information. I will join the LearnTrends 2009 to listen your speech. Thank you!

[Darcy Moore]

Once again, this is such an important resource for us all, especially when trying to assist colleagues enter the world of new media tools. Thanks Jane

[Jane Hart]

Darcy, thanks for your appreciation as always.

[wrubens]

Great work, Jane. Can we conclude that Twitter is replacing RSS?

[Aerin]

Wow - I've never seen such a great, focused list. I'm working with Canadian educators and hope to share and share and share this - thank you so much for the stellar work in putting this together, and for your thoughtful, amazing blog.

[Jane Hart]

Wilfred - there's ongoing discussion about this here - http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/2009/10/is-twitter-replacing-rss-readers.html

[Jane Hart]

Aerin - thank you, glad you like it and find it useful.

[Michael Britt]

Excellent slides Jane - thanks. Lots of good tools here and a few I wasn't aware of so I'm checking them out now. I would add one more tool: Co-mapping, a collaborative online concept mapping tool that I think is great (www.comapping). Again thanks!

Michael

[Jane Hart]

Michael, a number of different mindmapping tools were selected by contributors to this list. You can see those that made the list. You can see all the individual contributions here and the tools they selected: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top10tools.html

You can also see my long list of mindmapiong tools in my Directory of Learning Tools here - http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/Tools/mind.html that does include Co-mapping.

[Kellimcgraw.wordpress.com]

A fantastic resource, thanks! Always fascinating to see what's trending and think about why.

Very telling that Twitter is #1 and a shame that many working teachers don't have access to it at school. Most schools/departments block the site (though there are ways around this of course), but even if they didn't, classroom teachers have very little relief time to use Twitter. PLN building seems to be strictly 'home time' activity for teachers!

[Filmcoproducer]

I learned a ton from your Top 100 list. It opened a world of application tools that I had either vaguely heard about, or knew nothing about. After reading your top 28 I started to go through the list again, making notes and learning how each applied. Now I know I can apply Camtasia, Screencast, Audacity, Delicious.... the list goes on. Wow.