Which Tools?
January 22, 2008 by mlower
It is easy to become overwhelmed by all the new tools that are available for our use. Which ones do we spend time learning how to use? Maybe a place to start is by looking at what others consider valuable. The Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies decided to find out in 2007 and are in the process of updating their list of the 100 most popular technology tools for 2008. Besides looking over the list of popular tools, it is interesting to consider what they observed from the process:
- I consider the ranking to be relatively unimportant; it is the range of tools being used for learning that is the key take-away here. It demonstrates that e-learning is not just about online courses (which is still the view held by many people), but includes information-sharing, communication, and collaboration.
- Many are using these tools for their own personal learning, which demonstrates to me that self-managed learning is becoming very important nowadays.
- Most of the tools are not dedicated learning tools, but rather ones that are being commonly used by people in their daily lives, which suggests to me that learning, working, and living are actually becoming one and the same thing. I believe that therein lies the enormous power of these tools for learning.
- Over 75 percent of the tools on the list are free; the availability of free and low-cost tools is becoming a significant factor.
Take a look at the 100 top tools for 2007 and see how many you have used personally or recognize. Be prepared to spend time exploring some you might not have heard of before!
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I took a look at the list of the Top 100 Learning Tools of 2007. I’m lucky if I used 15 of them. As I’ve stated in other posts, I feel like I am so far behind the times when it comes to these things. I like technology, but I just don’t want to have it overtake my free time. I was surprised to read that over 75% of these tools are free.
Many think that the free tools, software, and open source will be taking over. Updating and purchasing software for schools and for personal use has become too expensive.
It amazing how many of these tools I have heard of or have heard people use, but I have not use more than 15-20 myself. To think there will be new tools added and I probably will stil not have used more than a third of those. Thwsw applications, software, etc develop so quickly at least there are places that review them and return feedback.
Personally, I found using the Wiki’s as useful informal way of researching items I use in other classes or even to brush up on terms or items I am not familiar with.
I was impressed at the shear number of tools that were free. Our school district loves technology, but sometimes the cost of some of the useful tools we use can be a huge issue. Some of these free tools could possibly offer a great alternative to some of the higher priced programs.
It was also a very humbling experience to see how many of these tools that I had never even heard of before. Again, so much to learn!
Open-source is a significant factor in Web 2.0 tools. Although Pages is a free word processing program that has the ability to read documents created by other word processors, schools continue to pay the big bucks for the Microsoft software. Why is that? How many more laptops could be provided if we shifted to open source?
My desktop is filled with about 40 programs that I use to one extent or another. : ) I wrote down some of the things from the list too. I had 27 of them! I am fortunate to live with a computer programmer, so if I need help on anything, he’s always there! I think we need to incorporate more of the specific presentation tools for our students. SKYPE is a terrific way to “talk” with them either via the IM feature, or by using a microphone. Anyway, I’m looking forward to learning about many more options that are out there! Thanks for sharing the list and all the other things you have on your blog! YOU ROCK! : )
This class will uncover many more new tools for you by the end of 9 weeks. Some you will research further and others you might set aside for later on. If we only had time to try them all out! Have fun discovering what is out there and is starting to be used in education!
Wow, I am glad to have discovered (been pointed to) this list of tools. I have been using the GoogleDocs for both professional collaboration and student work for about a year. The tools have made creating a state report with a group of people much easier. No more trying to figure out which version is the latest. I also had my class create a hilarious story through shared writing in GoogleDocs.
Great link, Mindy. I got into the categorized list of tools and found a few that I use, many that I had heard about, and several that I will be exploring over the next few weeks. I believe also that open source software is the way to go, but I’m sure it will take school districts many years to get there. They would rather pay for the name than take a risk on software that may not be supported. Another question might be whether the open source programs will force Microsoft to lower their prices.
Thanks for the lead, Mindy!
Sarah
I looked at the comparison from 2007 to 2008 and found it very interesting that GMail was not listed (and I’m not surprised). I tried using GoogleDocs but am still a bit confused. I just need more time to mess around with this. Anyhow, I looked through the article and I came across the “25 Free Tools: a Professional Development Resource” (http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/25Tools/activities.html). I appreciate how this list is organized and I feel I can go from one category to another. Hopefully I’ll catch up with Chris and Sue!
I was fully unaware that so many of this software was free. That is really encouraging to see as budget cuts are everywhere these days, especially in education. I love technology and feel that many of these tools could be very useful in the area of higher education and the library world.