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Web browser
- A web browser is a fundamental tool in the Toolbox; it is your
window onto the web. The award-winning browser,
Firefox
is still the browser of choice, because it is more than just a
browser; there are hundreds of extensions available provide an
enormous range of extra functionality. But why not try
Google Chrome,
which is quickly gaining market share
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Social bookmarking
tool - Store your books
online, tag (i.e. categorise) them and share them with others.
Delicious
is the leading social bookmarking tool.
Diigo,
however, takes social bookmarking to the next step, and supports
social annotation
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Blogging tool
- Personal and professional blogging is now considered a mainstream
activity. WordPress
is the people’s favourite blogging tool. This has now become a very
sophisticated tool with many plugins available to embed resources -
and yet remains easy to use. Available as a hosted service or to
install as a blogging platform. Google’s
Blogger
is, however, also a firm favourite
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RSS/Feed reader
- Have the news or blog updates sent
to you! Although modern day browsers let you read RSS feeds easily,
a feed reader will let you manage all your subscriptions in one
place. Google
Reader is the most popular online
feed reader and also lets you share postings with others.
Bloglines
is another favourite online feed reader.
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Micro-blogging tool
- Micro-blogging has really taken off this year, and this is mainly
due to Twitter.
You can communicate with your contacts - using up to 140 characters
– and keep up to date with what they are doing and what is happening
in the world. If you are looking for a desktop Twitter, client, then
Tweetdeck
is one to consider.
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Email
- Email is now a well-recognised and understood communication tool.
But do you want web mail or a desktop client?
gMail
(or GoogleMail
as it’s known in the UK) is an
efficient webmail service that provides you with tons of free
storage space – and no worrying about spam and viruses.
Outlook
is a well-respected commercial desktop email client, and part of the
Microsoft Office suite.
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Instant messaging
- Instant messaging is now almost as commonplace as email.
Skype
provides an easy way of not only text messaging but also free
computer-to-computer voice calls - with low charges out to landlines
(SkypeOut) - as well calls into Skype from landlines (SkypeIn)
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Personal productivity
tool - A personal productivity
tool is one that lets you work more effectively and efficiently.
This year, the leading productivity tool is
Evernote.
Use it to capture, clip and share notes on the web. There are
versions available for the desktop or mobile phone. Another useful
productivity tool is
Google Calendar, where you can share your diary online. This
makes scheduling meetings and other events an easy process.
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Mind mapping tool
- A mind mapping tool is great for organising your thoughts or just
brainstorming – either on your own or with others.
FreeMind
is an open source, desktop mind mapping tool.
Bubbl.us is a web
application where you can create mind maps online, share your work,
embed them in your blog or website, email or print them.
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Presentation tool
- A presentation tool is another fundamental tool for a learning
professional. PowerPoint
(a commercial tool) is the most well-known tool desktop tool – and
invaluable for many – and is the basis for a number of tools in this
Toolbox. A new breed of dedicated online presentation tools is
appearing, and Prezi is
emerging as a very popular free tool. Presentations are created
online but are also downloadable.
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Presentation sharing
tool - If you create
presentations with PowerPoint or other desktop software, then here’s
some popular tools for hosting them online and sharing them with
others. With Slideshare
you can even synchronise your presentation with an audio file to
create a narrated presentation. With
Voicethread you can
create an audio slideshow and comments can also be left by others.
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Online office suite
- Do you need to work collaboratively on presentations documents or
spreadsheets with your team or colleagues? Or want to share your
results with others more widely? Then this is where an online office
suite is of great value.
Google Docs is the most popular of the office tools. You can
start from scratch on a document or upload existing content created
in MS Office, for example. Zoho
is another online suite with a large range of productivity and
collaborative apps.
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Web conferencing tool
- Web conferencing tools let
you present to a small or large group of individuals, browse the web
and even share your computer screen. They also provide a chat
backchannel. Dimdim is the
most popular free, open source web conferencing tool. Of the many
commercial tools available,
Adobe Connect is
emerging as a strong favourite.
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Course authoring tool
- There are a number of tools
available to creating interactive, multimedia online courses. The
most popular tools in this category are all commercial tools.
Articulate E-Learning
Studio consists of three main products: Presenter (which lets
you create Flash-based courses from PowerPoint, Engage and Quizmaker.
All are available separately.
Lectora provides course developers with a comprehensive
authoring environment.
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Screen capture tool
- If you want to capture a screenshot or image for a learning
resources, a good screen capture tool is a must.
Snagit, a commercial tool
from Techsmith is the most popular screen capture tool.
Jing, also from Techsmith, is
a free always-ready program that instantly captures and shares
images and videos.
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Demo/screencasting
tool - If you want to create a
software demo or other screencast, then here are the most popular
tools: Both Camtasia,
from Techsmith, and
Captivate, from Adobe, are popular commercial tools, whereas
Jing, also from Techsmith, is
a free always-ready program that instantly captures and shares
images and video.
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Web authoring tool
- If you want to build a web site, there are a number of tools to
help you to do this. Here are the ones that learning professionals
like. Dreamweaver is a
powerful desktop web authoring tool. It is a commercial tool from
Adobe. Google Sites is a
free online tool to create simple, secure group web or wiki sites.
More wiki tools also appear in the next category.
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Wiki tools
- Wiki tools support collaborative working and learning. A number of
users can edit a page and thereby create a collaborative document.
PBworks (previously PBwiki)
is a firm favourite, particularly amongst workplace learning
professionals. The basic version is free, there are other
professional price plans.
Wikispaces has a strong following in the education world.
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Image/photo tools
- An image is worth a thousand words! Here are some popular image
and photo tools: If you are looking for a place to host your
personal or professional picture collection, then
Flickr is the place to do
it! It is also a great source of (often) copyright-free images. If
you are looking for a photo imaging tool, the commercial
Photoshop
from Adobe, is designed for professional and serious amateur
photographers
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Audio/podcasting tools
- Podcasts, or MP3 audio files, have become a very familiar format.
The following two tools are the favourite tools for creating and
listening to audio files and podcasts.
Audacity is a free, open
source, downloadable tool, that makes recording and editing audio
very simple. With the extra encoder you can convert your audio files
into MP3 podcasts. Although many web pages have embedded audio
players, iTunes is a must-have audio player that allows you to
subscribe to podcasts, and also access iTunesU.
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Video tools
- Video is a very powerful medium for presenting information or
instruction of all kinds.
YouTube is a favourite resource for finding videos. It is also
very easy to upload your own videos and share them with others.
Nowadays videos can easily be created using webcams, camcorders and
even mobile phones. The
Flip is an
affordable and popular mini camcorder.
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Personal dashboard
- Personal dashboard tools or start pages allow you to aggregate all
your digital resources - mail, RSS feeds, videos, etc - in one
place. You can also design the layout and look of your start page.
The two most popular, free start page tools are
iGoogle and
Netvibes.
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Course management
system - A course management
system lets you manage learners and their use of course content. The
system of choice for many learning professionals – both in education
and in the workplace - is the free, open source platform,
Moodle. In addition to core course
management functionality it also includes some social media tools
like discussion forums, blogging and wiki tools. If you can't
install Moodle in-house, then there are low-cost hosting solutions
available.
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Social networking tool
- You may already belong to a public social network like
Facebook or
LinkedIn, where you can also set up a dedicated group for network
members to join easily. However, if you want to create a private
social network, for instance to provide the community side of a
learning programme, then Ning is a popular online platform.
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Integrated social
media platform - Too many
different social media tools to choose from? Concerned about
personal and organisational data privacy and security on external
sites? Then, Elgg, the free, open source
integrated social media platform brings together social networking,
social bookmarking, blogging, wikis, RSS feeds, messaging and more
in one platform. With Elgg you can create a social learning and
collaboration platform for use across the whole organisation.
Individuals can have a personal dashboard and groups can work
together. If you can't install Elgg in-house, then there are
low-cost hosting solutions available.
