Get Your Geek On!

Top 100 tools for learning

The Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies put out their list of the top 100 tools for learning this week.  I must say I was really surprised by this list.  The list was compiled from the votes of 500+ professional educators worldwide.  Put together by Jane Hart the 100 top lists in a slideshare presentation, or just scroll down and take a look at the text version.   Thank you so much Jane for adding the text version.  I just could not get up enough nerve to click through 103 slides. 

How do you get on the list?

In order to get on the list your tool had to provide a service for either the learner, or for the educator. Or it created a solution to a problem while learning, or educating, or personal use.  A total of 582 cast votes for their favorite educational tools.  A breakdown of this was 55% were educators, and 45% were in none-educational organizations.

 The top ten are…

• The number one spot goes to Twitter.  I can see teachers using this more than students.  Using hashtags like #edchat, #education, and #edu a teacher can accomplish quite a bit from getting help finding a tool, to sending notes out, and even having conversations with other educators.  It’s a great tool I use it a lot.  There are some great conversations on Tuesdays in case you want in on the conversation just use the search box at Twitter and type in #edchat and I promise you will like the chatter immensely.
• The number two spot goes to YouTube  I was not surprised seeing this one at the top of the list.  Teachers love it, and so do the students.  Youtube is a tool for everyone.  Teaching or students showing they know the subject either way it’s a winner.
• Google Docs/Drive came in at third place.  Is this the sign of the times?  It must be because this tool has taken third place for the past three years. Google seems to be at the top for education, and I know wonder why after all they have some bright minds that have been there, and done that.  So who better is there to create tools for learning?   I love educational winners, and I can’t wait to see what Google develops next.
• In fourth place is Google Search.  Yes I am starting to sound like a broken record.  But teachers and students need a search engine, and Google as always filled the void.  However there is one tool that should have been added to the list and that is WOT.  What Google does as a search tool, WOT does for the links, and that is WOT makes sure the link you are clicking on is reputable.  I am not trying to take Google’s fame away from them, I just thought WOT deserved a mention here as well.
• In fifth place is WordPress and I am so happy to see them on this list and in the top ten.  This is by far the best blogger tool on the market for teachers and students.  You can’t beat it.  It is easy to use; the learning curve is not that bad at all.  It has hundreds if not thousands of add-ons to suit your needs.  Teachers can set up their own WordPress blog and install an add-on called BuddyPress next you install a plugin called BuddyPress ScholarPress Courseware  Enjoy!
• Six place goes to Dropbox and I have to be honest with you I have never used this service.  But from their website it said that you can drop/upload files into your Dropbox on one computer, and they’ll be instantly available on any of your other computers that you’ve installed Dropbox on.  That sounds great I can think of a few times I wish I had the service.  Oh and one very big plus this tool has is that it is compatible on Windows, Mac, and Linux too.  Cool huh?
• Skype is in seventh place and this is software. I have used the service, and yes a teacher could use this as a means to collaborate with their students.  But last I checked it was one student at a time each window.  Honestly many of the conferencing software can be a pain to use, and Skype is no exception.  If you send a call to landlines, mobile phones and send SMS messages you pay dearly for them if you use them regularly.  Other than the charges depending the time of day your connection can be spotty.  But I still liked the service.  And even though it had it quirks, all around it wasn’t bad at all.  From what I gather teachers like it because the students aren’t all in one spot.  Less chance of them cutting up and more chance of them staying on target.
• In eighth place is PowerPoint. Yes you pay for this software.  I believe more teachers use this software than students because as far as I know you can’t buy PowerPoint by itself.  It comes packaged with Microsoft office.  I could be wrong though.  In case I am right just download OpenOffice because it is free, and the learning curb is the same for both products which do the same as in types of files you are trying to produce.
• Coming in at ninth place is Facebook.  I don’t need to tell you why because you already know.  I just hope that if teachers are using them as a tool for their classes that they at least make sure they are as secure as possible.  Just to be fair to Microsoft Office there is a student version for you to consider.
• We made it to number ten and I was surprised to find out who number ten was.  You ready for this?  It is Wikipedia.   I will let that sink in for a moment…  Pick your jaw up, and don’t drool!  How the heck did they even make this list?  Every teacher I have chatted with or emailed have all said the same thing; “They don’t like Wikipedia because the content is not reliable.”  But it made it into the top ten so was it the 45% that were none-educational voters that got this on the list? I don’t know.  Unless the teachers I talked too didn’t have a clue, but just so you know there were over a thousand I have chatted with and the norm was none of them liked Wikipedia.   So who is right?  The top 100 list maker or me?  Comment and let me know.

So there you have it this year’s top ten list for education.  Be sure to go through the whole list there are plenty of tools to sort through and I am sure you will find a few favorites, and even create a new list of favorites.  The list is interesting, and I must say I enjoyed reading though it.  But someone tell me who creates a slideshare that a person has to click through 103 times?  I know I am not, and Jane Hart did right putting that text version at the bottom if she hadn’t of I never would of stuck around to read through it all.

What about the ones that did not make the list?  I really thought ck-12 would be on it this year, but it’s not.  Another surprise was that Khan Academy is not on it.  Now I realize some of you will say they are not a tool, but they are.  They have nice tools for teachers, and synced their learning software so the teacher knows where the student is, or is having problems at.  Another one I thought would make the list is instaGrok  wow I was surprised at not seeing this in the list.  It’s a great search engine.   What did you see missing from the list?  Let me know in the comment section.