Top 10 Tools for Learning 2008

January 13, 2008

Greetings All. Well let’s get the new year started with our Top 10 Tools for Learning in 2008.

In no particular order, We’ve listed our 10 favourite web tools for teachers. Eleven, actually!

We hope they are of value to you and your students. Best wishes for a fantastic year.

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Moodle
http://moodle.org
-open source Learning Management System that can be freely installed at any institution
-requires a system administrator to setup for use by teachers, students
-best used in a teaching and learning context
-easy to use communication and collaboration tools all contained in one program eg. blogs, chat, IM, forums, wikis, rss etc.

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Joomla!
http://joomla.org
-best open source Content Management System on the planet, full stop.
-will require some technical expertise to setup
-forget the need to use dreamweaver or hard code html
-just tweak css and php
-massive user base, excellent forum support and heaps of extensions such as community builder & virtuemart

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Slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net
-share and download presentations
-browse, search, favourite by keyword tags
-create or join interest groups

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Page Flakes
http://www.pageflakes.com
-ajax technology and customisable widgets abound here!
-create private or public pages containing news feeds, sudoku, comics, games, to do lists, whatever!
-makes a great homepage
-share the page(s) with your colleagues or students

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Jing
http://www.jingproject.com
-capture images, video from your desktop and share files with others for FREE!
-great for student demos, tutorials
-for mac & pc

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Twitter
http://twitter.com
-a cool concept > i promise its not just another social networking site!
-answer one simple question in 140 char or less: what are you doing now?
-follow others & be followed
-public or private
-send and receive updates via mobile

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Del.icio.us
http://del.icio.us
-social bookmarking site
-take your bookmarks wherever you go
-share your favourited web site urls with others
-browse, search recommended community tags to learn about useful sites

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Technorati
http://technorati.com
-currently tracking 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media.
-the recognised authority on what’s happening on the World Live Web, right now
-blogs and other forms of independent, user-generated content are organised

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Skype
http://skype.com
-the utlimate web communication tool
-good for conferencing with colleagues, students, friends or family!
-free voice, video calls pc to pc & cheap to call landlines & mobiles local or overseas
-IM chat, sms
-skype in, skype out

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Flickr
http://flickr.com
-free photo sharing service
-easy to organise and be creative with your photos online
-choose to make public or share with groups, friends and family

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Youtube
http://youtube.com
-video sharing service
-view and upload
-browse, search videos by keyword tags
-great for visual demonstrations, case studies