Top 100 Tools for Learning in 2009

Here are the top 100 learning tools, which are recommended by e-learning professionals worldwide. Jane has also created a powerpoint presentation of the 100 learning tools, which is hosted on Slideshare.net. I’m going to break them down by type of platform and focus on the ones I’ve used and find most useful. I hope you find my re-organization of the list to be helpful in that its organized by type of tool and function. Many thanks to Jane and the other learning professionals which put this together.

Social Networking

Twitter- micro blogging platform
Yammer- closed system micro blogging platform
Slideshare.net- like YouTube for presentations
Flickr- post and share photos
Facebook- social networking
Wikispaces-wiki and social collaboration
Wetpaint-wiki and social collaboration
PB Works previously PB Wiki-social collaboration and wiki tool
Second Life-similar to the Sims. 3D social networking
YouTube- social networking around videos
Teacher Tube-instructional video sharing site
Ning-build your own social network (free and paid options)

(see also: video vertical niche sites like 5 min, Expert Village, and Howcast)

Blogging Tools
WordPress-blogging (best in my opinion)
Posterous-blogging (fun in my opinion)
Twitter- micro blogging
Typepad-blogging (paid)

Video, Video Conferencing, and Screen Casting
Skype-video conferencing (and collaboration)
Illuminate-Web conferencing
Dim Dim-video coferencing
Screenr-Screencasting tool
Camtasia Studio- Screencasting
Articulate-Present/Engage/Quizmaker
Adobe Captivate-demo and scenario tool
(see also: My Ovoo)

Productivity Tools
Evenote-note taking
Delicious- bookmark the most relevant content
Mindmapping-Mind mapping software
Google Docs-collaborative writing and creating
Firefox-web browser
Gmail-email
diigio-social annotation
Google Calendar-social calendars

Course Management Tools
Moodle- Course Management
(see also: Sakai)

Design, Creative and Fun Tools
Prezi-create interesting powerpoints
Wordle-Word Cloud Generator
Snag It-Screen capture
Flickr-share photos
Picasa-photo organizer
Animoto-Create videos from your images (several similar platforms)
Glogster-make an interactive poster
Adobe Photoshop-Photo/image editing tools
Lectora-
Elgg-
Voice thread-collaborative slideshows (no experience with this one, but sounds cool)

RSS Reader
Google Reader-blog and RSS reader
Bloglines-blog and RSS reader

Personalized Reader
iGoogle-personalized start page
Netvibes-personalized reader and start page
Pageflakes-personalized reader and start page
(see also: Protopages and others)

Audio:
Garage Band-personal recording studio
Audacity-audio editing and recorder

Feedback and Surveys:
Survey Monkey

Twitter Tools
Twirl
Tweetdeck

Other Technology:
iTunes/iTunes U-download free podcasts
Flip Camera-portable and inexpensive video camera
iPhone/iPod Touch (includes indirectly iTunes and iPhone apps)-too long to list
Dreamweaver
Powerpoint
Keynote
Word

Search Technology
Google (including advanced search and Google Scholar)
Twitter (realtime search by subject and hashtag)

I can’t believe Alltop and Technorati didn’t make the list. To me, these tools along with Google and Twitter and incidently Amazon and incredibly important to identify the best and smartest thought leaders in a particular field of study. Just because my frequency of use of an RSS reader is high, it was likely one the five of those technologies or perhaps an industry publication or conference which enabled you to plug it into your RSS reader. I’m curious if others are using tools like Basecamp or other 37 Signals tools or perhaps Zoho. To me, I don’t understand how Gmail, Firefox, Word, Wikipedia, and Open Office don’t seem to count…although that may be the point.