Jane Hart from the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies, has organized the most recommended e-learning tools for 2009, into a number of useful categories. Check out 25 Tools: A Toolbox for Learning Professionals:
In my opinion, Compfight (photos), and ScreenFlow (screen capture) will one day have enough recommendations to make this impressive list.
Showing posts with label tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tools. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Top Ten Tech Tools (Fall 2009)
For the past few years now, Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies has been compiling lists of preferred e-learning tools, including my Top Ten Learning Technologies. In revising my list for Fall 2009, it's happened again, that free web-based tools dominate my list. To shake things up a bit, I've done some thinking about the tools I use most frequently, and I've decided it's time to rank my top 10 in order.
1. Firefox: Recognizing that so many of my favourite tools exist on the World Wide Web, I've got to lead off in referencing my browser of choice. Although other browsers can fill in in a pinch, I currently do much of my professional learning within the tabs of Firefox.
2. G-Mail: Simple, reliable, sortable, with effective filters (including spam filters) and plenty of room for large files and archives. Now that my professional and personal calendars have been ported to Google Calendar, along with my Task lists, Gmail has become the hub of my 'cloud office'.
3. Tweetdeck: While Twitter remains the lead tool I use to connect with educators around the world, I'm still hooked on Tweetdeck as my choice for keeping in touch with my personal learning network. On my iPhone, I continue to use Twitterific.
4. Compfight: I continue to make frequent use of Flickr's Creative Commons, but the elegant, user-friendly tool I use to access images, is Compfight.
5. Garageband: Having produced 200 episodes of my podcast, Teacher 2.0 I'm now working with students to produce engaging audio announcements. Surpassing Audacity and other audio-editing tools, Garageband remains a staple in my e-learning toolbox. I also use Libsyn and iTunes in my podcasting, but I can't yet justify listing these tools in my top ten.
6. Blogger: Although I've been publishing less frequently, this tool is still my favourite choice for hosting my blog: The Clever Sheep.
7. Keynote: Using a Zen approach, most of my presentations are light on text and heavy on graphics. It's the stunning templates, engaging transitions, and exports to clickable movie files, that lead me to favour Keynote as my favourite presentation tool. My completed sliseshows are often posted on Slideshare, another online tool that just missed making my list.
8. Skype: In communicating with educators around the world, it seems almost too easy to engage in rich conversations for free, courtesy of Skype. Although I also use Google Video Chat, Adobe Connect, iChat, and DimDim, the recent addition of screen-sharing to Skype, makes it my number one tool for connecting!
9. ScreenFlow: Optimized for OSX 10.5, I still love to make use of the most polished screen capture utility available. It's the best tool out there for creating engaging software demos and tutorials, but it remains a Mac-only option.
10. WetPaint: With so many of my projects calling for collaborative development of e-learning solutions, I continue to make regular use of WetPaint. With free sites for educators, and unparalleled community tools, WetPaint wikis are the backbone of Twitter for Teachers, and The Golden Fleece Wiki.
Honourable Mention: Posterous has the potential to become one of the top wiki/blog tools I'll be using at school. Working to engage students and teachers in the creation of e-portfolios, it's the most polished and user-friendly tool I've seen.
Photo Credit: Suzie T
Monday, February 9, 2009
25 Great Ways to Spark Creativity
The web hosts a wide variety of content generators that can be used to creatively update blog posts; to teach information literacy; and to just plain have fun.
Here are 25 of my favourites:
Book & Magazine Covers
Books for Dummies
Magazine Cover Creator
Big Huge Labs Covers
Sign Editors
Construction Road Sign
Wrigley Field Sign
Bus Advertising Slogan
Church Signs
Bar-B-Q Restaurant Sign
Protest March Banner
McDonald's Sign Generator
Practical Organizers
Pocket Organizers for GTD
Colour Scheme Creator
2D Code Generator
Creating QR Codes
Simple Bibliography Tool
eMail Icon Creator
Writing Ideas
Motivational Poster Parodies
Newspaper Clipping Creator
Simile of the Day
Fake Name Generator
PC Error Customizatioin
Trading Card Creator
Just for Fun
Hobbit Name Generator
Monopoly Card Creator
Web 2.0 Name Generator
What are your favourite sites for generating interest and sparking creativity?
Here are 25 of my favourites:
Book & Magazine Covers
Books for Dummies
Magazine Cover Creator
Big Huge Labs Covers
Sign Editors
Construction Road Sign
Wrigley Field Sign
Bus Advertising Slogan
Church Signs
Bar-B-Q Restaurant Sign
Protest March Banner
McDonald's Sign Generator
Practical Organizers
Pocket Organizers for GTD
Colour Scheme Creator
2D Code Generator
Creating QR Codes
Simple Bibliography Tool
eMail Icon Creator
Writing Ideas
Motivational Poster Parodies
Newspaper Clipping Creator
Simile of the Day
Fake Name Generator
PC Error Customizatioin
Trading Card Creator
Just for Fun
Hobbit Name Generator
Monopoly Card Creator
Web 2.0 Name Generator
What are your favourite sites for generating interest and sparking creativity?
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Education Abandons Communication
I started thinking about how Twitter is very much a social networking tool for adults that is similar in some ways to MSN chat, and in other ways is like email. This thinking prompted me to a thought experiment comparing the adoption of tools used for communication:
(Creative Commons Licensed by Rodd Lucier)
While it's dangerous to generalize, I'm coming to a fearful discovery: "It's not that education fails to take advantage of technology; it's that education fails to take advantage of most forms of communication that cross time & space."
Common practice seems to be in the here and now, whether speaking to people who are present; or writing for people who are present. Although there are many exemplary learning experiences taking advantage of communications technologies, these exemplars are far less common than so-called 'traditional' learning experiences.
More detailed thinking on this topic is available on the Teacher 2.0 Podcast: Unharnessed Communications Technologies.
(Creative Commons Licensed by Rodd Lucier)While it's dangerous to generalize, I'm coming to a fearful discovery: "It's not that education fails to take advantage of technology; it's that education fails to take advantage of most forms of communication that cross time & space."
Common practice seems to be in the here and now, whether speaking to people who are present; or writing for people who are present. Although there are many exemplary learning experiences taking advantage of communications technologies, these exemplars are far less common than so-called 'traditional' learning experiences.
More detailed thinking on this topic is available on the Teacher 2.0 Podcast: Unharnessed Communications Technologies.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
MI and Google Tools
There are so many tools available from Google, that you can make recommendations based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences:Linguistic: Blogger; Google Documents; Google Page Creator; Google Reader; Google Book Search; Google News; Google Language Tools; Google Translate; Hello; Gmail; Google Scholar;
Mathematical-Logical: Google Spreadsheets; Google Analytics; Google SMS; Google Sets; Google Desktop; iGoogle; Feedburner; Android; Open Social; Google Transit; Google Patents; Google Product Search; Google Zeitgeist;
Visual Spatial: Google Sketchup; Google Page Creator; Picasa, Google Page Creator; YouTube; Google Video; Google Maps; Google Ride Finder; Google Image Search; Google Image Labeler; Google Patents;
Kinesthetic: Google Video; YouTube; Dodgeball; Google Image Labeler; Google 411;
Musical: Google Reader (RSS & podcasts); Google Podcast Directory; Google Talk;
Intrapersonal: Blogger; Google Notebook; Google Calendar; iGoogle; Google Transit; Google Image Labeler; Google Product Search;
Interpersonal: Google Talk; Google Documents; Google Groups; Google Team; Google Sites; Orkut; Google Trends; Google News; Hello; Dodgeball; Gmail; Open Social; Google Zeitgeist;
Naturalist: Google Maps; Google Earth; Google Mars; Google Moon; Google Sky;
I've heard Howard Gardner say "...there are likely thousands of intelligences." If that is true, maybe one yet to be identified is "The Googlist"!
Late addition: I'm reminded by Clarence Fisher at Remote Access, that Google employees are rumoured to work on creative independent projects for 20% of their work week. Knowing that this is how Google labs has developed many of the tools listed above, I'm drawn to follow Clarence's query: How much 'Google Time' can we provide students, and what might be the result?
More on this topic is available on the Teacher 2.0 Podcast: Google on the Dark Side
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Top 100 Tools for Learning
The Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies in the UK, has released its 'Top 10 Tools for Learning'.
Based on contributions from 118 educators, this list contains a very high proportion of free tools (maybe Wired magazine is on to something...); and highlights many of the social tools that have been the focus of the edublogosphere for the past many months.
Of note:
Del.icio.us is the new Number 1;
Google Reader has climbed within the top ten to Number 4;
PowerPoint may finally be beginning its slow fade;
Twitter skyrockets from 43 to 15;
Jing and Wetpaint both debut in the top 50;
Google Earth was only recommended by 3 of those surveyed...
Top 10 screen grab from: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100.html
Does anything in the survey results surprise you?
Based on contributions from 118 educators, this list contains a very high proportion of free tools (maybe Wired magazine is on to something...); and highlights many of the social tools that have been the focus of the edublogosphere for the past many months.
Of note:
Del.icio.us is the new Number 1;
Google Reader has climbed within the top ten to Number 4;
PowerPoint may finally be beginning its slow fade;
Twitter skyrockets from 43 to 15;
Jing and Wetpaint both debut in the top 50;
Google Earth was only recommended by 3 of those surveyed...
Top 10 screen grab from: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100.html
Does anything in the survey results surprise you?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sticky Wikis & PLCs
When it comes to professional development for teachers, more presentations need to model the value of read/write web technologies including the importance of informal professional learning networks. Even if we don't have time to develop and deliver workshops on how to use blogs, wikis, podcasts, or steaming video, we can raise the profile of these tools by leveraging them in our presentations.
Even if board presenters elect to use traditional 'sage on the stage' models for sharing knowledge in training sessions, school districts can engage teachers in the conversation. Using the read/write tools at our disposal, leaders can provide pre and post-workshop information; can receive feedback from attendees; and can engage educators in ongoing dialogue about the big ideas shared in a given workshop.
My personal view is that every workshop should be supported by the use of a wiki. At the very least, the wiki can provide direct access to hyperlinks, handouts, and presentation materials. At best, the wiki will be open to contributions from visitors. and will include threaded discussions that extend the conversation. I contend that such workshop sites will be sticky, leading to collective sharing and community thinking on a wide range of topics. Informal networks of teachers may well spring from the regular use of wikis, and might further develop into lasting professional learning communities.
The spin-off benefit, beyond the support for current training initiatives, might include teachers who will begin to think about how they can leverage similar tools in their own classrooms. Knowing that it is so easy to contribute to a wiki, a teacher might write her first web page by using a wiki connect with parents, students and fellow teachers. Indeed, when curriculum leaders teach teachers through the use of read/write tools like these, they teach more than they realize!
Unsure about how wikis work? Visit the Teacher 2.0 Sticky Wiki episode , or check out the video below. In the interest of full disclosure: I like WetPaint for my wikis and I think Common Craft does a great job explaining things.
Even if board presenters elect to use traditional 'sage on the stage' models for sharing knowledge in training sessions, school districts can engage teachers in the conversation. Using the read/write tools at our disposal, leaders can provide pre and post-workshop information; can receive feedback from attendees; and can engage educators in ongoing dialogue about the big ideas shared in a given workshop.
My personal view is that every workshop should be supported by the use of a wiki. At the very least, the wiki can provide direct access to hyperlinks, handouts, and presentation materials. At best, the wiki will be open to contributions from visitors. and will include threaded discussions that extend the conversation. I contend that such workshop sites will be sticky, leading to collective sharing and community thinking on a wide range of topics. Informal networks of teachers may well spring from the regular use of wikis, and might further develop into lasting professional learning communities.
The spin-off benefit, beyond the support for current training initiatives, might include teachers who will begin to think about how they can leverage similar tools in their own classrooms. Knowing that it is so easy to contribute to a wiki, a teacher might write her first web page by using a wiki connect with parents, students and fellow teachers. Indeed, when curriculum leaders teach teachers through the use of read/write tools like these, they teach more than they realize!
Unsure about how wikis work? Visit the Teacher 2.0 Sticky Wiki episode , or check out the video below. In the interest of full disclosure: I like WetPaint for my wikis and I think Common Craft does a great job explaining things.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
You Call 'This' a Normal Day?!
I was just reflecting back on the different applications I've used today... pretty much a normal day, and I'm coming to the realization that there are many tools that are a normal part of my workflow. Consider the following rough timeline:
Midnight: Access my Del.icio.us bookmarks to find the name of the 'wakeup call' website I'd recently bookmarked.
12:02 a.m.: Set up a 7 a.m. wakeup call at http://www.wakerupper.com/
7:00 a.m.: Awake to the sound of my cell phone ringing... Upon answer, a mechanized voice reads back to me the message I'd posted 7 hours earlier.
7:10 a.m.: Load Camino web browser and with one click, open my 'Daily' bookmarks folder to read the news of the day.
7:20 a.m.: Quick check on Twitter to see who was up to what last evening...
8:00 a.m.: Early arrival at the workshop site provides me with time to a few recent skating photos from iPhoto to my Keynote presentation
8:10 a.m.: My district e-learning contact is not yet on site, so I decided to select a topic from my Xpad notebook and to record a quick little Podcast using Garageband
8:18 a.m.: Convert podcast to MP3 format in iTunes.
8:20 a.m.: Upload podcast to Libsyn and ping the iTunes server.
9:00 a.m.: Share Keynote presentation with workshop attendees (various 'photos of ice-skating', zamboni, shovel man... as a metaphor for e-learning).
9:15 a.m.: Open multiple tabs in Camino to highlight e-Learning tools in Ontario. Work with participants on course customization in their browser of choice: MS Explorer (yuck!)
10:30 a.m.: Highlight for participants how Flickr and Audacity can be used to create more memorable communications in the online course environment.
11:00 a.m.: Tweak 'how to' documents in ScreenSteps and send PDF versions to participants via First Class
11:45 a.m.: Check on my work mail for urgent messages via First Class
1:00 p.m.: Assist district ICT consultant in mini-workshop to tame Google Documents, and Wet Paint wikis as places to host online course materials. My take is that these tools can be leveraged by students for electronic portfolios.
1:30 p.m.: Assist district e-learning contact in enrolling students in courses by using an Excel spreadsheet (csv format)
1:45 p.m.: Phone Desire2Learn to investigate internal email issues in the learning management system.
2:00 p.m.: Partner with district ICT consultant to highlight how Google Analytics tracks web traffic (my RPT site has hits from 162 countries to date!)
2:30 p.m.: Review evening ice skating in Komoka movie created in iMovie and uploaded to blip.tv to complete the metaphor: "If you build it, they will come."
2:45 p.m.: Time to drive home... Catching up on my favourite CBC podcasts on the 2 hour drive
7:00 p.m.: Visit the recording of an Adobe Connect e-learning session on 'course customization' that I missed while driving home
7:20 p.m.: Open Flock to check on my 'network' of education bloggers, twitterers, and social learning networkers
7:40 p.m.: upload new links to my my Del.icio.us bookmarks
7:45 p.m.: type this blog entry in Flock
8:20 p.m.: upload blog entry to Blogger
There is nothing exceptional about this day... in most ways it is a mirror of my 'normal' working day. My exposure to multiple applications the past ten years or so make this seem all so natural and seemless. I'm sure that this is far from a 'normal' day for a teacher, but with the way my day flows, I rarely reflect on the apps I'm using. Then again, maybe I'm just a 'geek'?
Does anyone else think about their daily workflow in terms like these?
Midnight: Access my Del.icio.us bookmarks to find the name of the 'wakeup call' website I'd recently bookmarked.
12:02 a.m.: Set up a 7 a.m. wakeup call at http://www.wakerupper.com/
7:00 a.m.: Awake to the sound of my cell phone ringing... Upon answer, a mechanized voice reads back to me the message I'd posted 7 hours earlier.
7:10 a.m.: Load Camino web browser and with one click, open my 'Daily' bookmarks folder to read the news of the day.
7:20 a.m.: Quick check on Twitter to see who was up to what last evening...
8:00 a.m.: Early arrival at the workshop site provides me with time to a few recent skating photos from iPhoto to my Keynote presentation
8:10 a.m.: My district e-learning contact is not yet on site, so I decided to select a topic from my Xpad notebook and to record a quick little Podcast using Garageband
8:18 a.m.: Convert podcast to MP3 format in iTunes.
8:20 a.m.: Upload podcast to Libsyn and ping the iTunes server.
9:00 a.m.: Share Keynote presentation with workshop attendees (various 'photos of ice-skating', zamboni, shovel man... as a metaphor for e-learning).
9:15 a.m.: Open multiple tabs in Camino to highlight e-Learning tools in Ontario. Work with participants on course customization in their browser of choice: MS Explorer (yuck!)
10:30 a.m.: Highlight for participants how Flickr and Audacity can be used to create more memorable communications in the online course environment.
11:00 a.m.: Tweak 'how to' documents in ScreenSteps and send PDF versions to participants via First Class
11:45 a.m.: Check on my work mail for urgent messages via First Class
1:00 p.m.: Assist district ICT consultant in mini-workshop to tame Google Documents, and Wet Paint wikis as places to host online course materials. My take is that these tools can be leveraged by students for electronic portfolios.
1:30 p.m.: Assist district e-learning contact in enrolling students in courses by using an Excel spreadsheet (csv format)
1:45 p.m.: Phone Desire2Learn to investigate internal email issues in the learning management system.
2:00 p.m.: Partner with district ICT consultant to highlight how Google Analytics tracks web traffic (my RPT site has hits from 162 countries to date!)
2:30 p.m.: Review evening ice skating in Komoka movie created in iMovie and uploaded to blip.tv to complete the metaphor: "If you build it, they will come."
2:45 p.m.: Time to drive home... Catching up on my favourite CBC podcasts on the 2 hour drive
7:00 p.m.: Visit the recording of an Adobe Connect e-learning session on 'course customization' that I missed while driving home
7:20 p.m.: Open Flock to check on my 'network' of education bloggers, twitterers, and social learning networkers
7:40 p.m.: upload new links to my my Del.icio.us bookmarks
7:45 p.m.: type this blog entry in Flock
8:20 p.m.: upload blog entry to Blogger
There is nothing exceptional about this day... in most ways it is a mirror of my 'normal' working day. My exposure to multiple applications the past ten years or so make this seem all so natural and seemless. I'm sure that this is far from a 'normal' day for a teacher, but with the way my day flows, I rarely reflect on the apps I'm using. Then again, maybe I'm just a 'geek'?
Does anyone else think about their daily workflow in terms like these?
Blogged with Flock
Monday, January 7, 2008
Top Ten Tech Tools
In reviewing the year-end posts of some of my favourite bloggers, I have encountered a few folks reflecting on the most effective tech tools they've been using, and others like Gary Woodill thinking deeply about which tools are likely to be the most transformative in 2008. That's all the motivation I need to share my favourite tools for designing within e-learning environments.
Rodd Lucier's Top Ten Tech Tools (in no particular order):
ScreenSteps: This is superior and simple to use tutorial creation utility. Great for creating software 'how to' documents as either PDFs or HTML pages.
http://www.screensteps.com/
iShowU: A simple to use, customizeable screen capture utility. Great for creating movie-style demos and tutorials.
http://www.shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html
Keynote: Oooh-la-la! Stunning graphics, transitions and exports to clickable movie files, what more could you ask for in presentation software?
http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/
G-Mail: Simple, reliable, sortable, with effective filters (including spam filters) and plenty of room for large files and archives.
http://mail.google.com
Google Reader: While I used to use Bloglines, I find the Google franchise provides a common look/feel for my daily work.
http://reader.google.com
Picturesque: This Mac-simple graphic editing tool allows the user to quickly transform photos to round-cornered, 3-D reflective images.
http://www.acqualia.com/picturesque/
Camino: As a browser on the Mac platform, it simply loads faster than any others... significantly so on my machine.
http://caminobrowser.org/
Hemera Photo-Objects: Now only available via eBay (thanks to the success of online subscription models), the 100,000 photos in versions I and II offer a fantastic variety for logo creation. (Version III is on a different interface)
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/stockphotovendors/gr/photoobjects1-2.htm
Adobe Connect: This tool is provided to Ontario educators by the provincial Ministry of Education and is an amazingly flexible user-friendly tool for hosting collaborative meetings online.
http://www.adobe.com/products/connect/
iPhoto: I love creating photobooks... and this tool does an amazing job of it. (I had to include one tool for sheer expression and creativity!)
http://www.apple.com/iphoto/
This is by no means a complete list, rather, these ten tools are ones that I enjoy using the most. I also collect links to a variety of Web 2.0 tools and keep them updated here: http://del.icio.us/thecleversheep/web2.0. If you'd like to share your own top ten list, feel free to post below, or join a number of educators who are sharing their opinions at the UK Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies.
A more 'enthusiastic' podcast version of this post will soon be available at the Teacher 2.0 Podcast, now available on iTunes.
Rodd Lucier's Top Ten Tech Tools (in no particular order):
ScreenSteps: This is superior and simple to use tutorial creation utility. Great for creating software 'how to' documents as either PDFs or HTML pages.
http://www.screensteps.com/
iShowU: A simple to use, customizeable screen capture utility. Great for creating movie-style demos and tutorials.
http://www.shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html
Keynote: Oooh-la-la! Stunning graphics, transitions and exports to clickable movie files, what more could you ask for in presentation software?
http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/
G-Mail: Simple, reliable, sortable, with effective filters (including spam filters) and plenty of room for large files and archives.
http://mail.google.com
Google Reader: While I used to use Bloglines, I find the Google franchise provides a common look/feel for my daily work.
http://reader.google.com
Picturesque: This Mac-simple graphic editing tool allows the user to quickly transform photos to round-cornered, 3-D reflective images.
http://www.acqualia.com/picturesque/
Camino: As a browser on the Mac platform, it simply loads faster than any others... significantly so on my machine.
http://caminobrowser.org/
Hemera Photo-Objects: Now only available via eBay (thanks to the success of online subscription models), the 100,000 photos in versions I and II offer a fantastic variety for logo creation. (Version III is on a different interface)
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/stockphotovendors/gr/photoobjects1-2.htm
Adobe Connect: This tool is provided to Ontario educators by the provincial Ministry of Education and is an amazingly flexible user-friendly tool for hosting collaborative meetings online.
http://www.adobe.com/products/connect/
iPhoto: I love creating photobooks... and this tool does an amazing job of it. (I had to include one tool for sheer expression and creativity!)
http://www.apple.com/iphoto/
This is by no means a complete list, rather, these ten tools are ones that I enjoy using the most. I also collect links to a variety of Web 2.0 tools and keep them updated here: http://del.icio.us/thecleversheep/web2.0. If you'd like to share your own top ten list, feel free to post below, or join a number of educators who are sharing their opinions at the UK Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies.
A more 'enthusiastic' podcast version of this post will soon be available at the Teacher 2.0 Podcast, now available on iTunes.
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