Top Tools for Learning : Emerging Trends

Yesterday I announced the fact that the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010 list had been finalised. 

Did you notice any interesting trends in the popularity of tools for learning over the last 4 years?

I identified four key trends:

1. The increasing consumerization of IT
2. Learning, working and personal tools are merging
3. Social tools predominate
4. Personal (informal) learning is under the control of the learner

I think these trends are making a significant impact on the how we define learning, how learning is supported and "managed".

In a recent article Top Tools for Learning: Emerging Trends I looked at these four trends in more detail, and asked what this means for the future of workplace learning and also the Learning and Development profession, which I then address in a second article, The New Era of Workplace Learning,

Comments

[David Warr]

Hi Jane, I think the dominance of free resources is critical to success. Is this a trend? Do some of the resources you list as being free also have subscription models? I'm thinking of Flickr, but I'm not sure. Is the freemium business model on the upsurge? That would be good to analyse.
David

[Bryan Alexander]

Great list again, Jane.

One trend is an emphasis on text and images. Far more tools focus on those than handle audio and video.

[WendyTagg]

Really useful list.

One trend is popularity of tools that help individuals organise their social networking - e.g. hootsuite