TOP 10 TOOLS 2007 & 2008
Karl Kapp

Karl Kapp is a professor of Instructional Technology and the Assistant Director at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg PA and author of Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning.  Karl blogs at Kapp Notes.

Karl's Top 10 Tools as at 3 March 2008

1. Gmail—the search functionality, the threaded conversations and the ability to create groups and communication in real-time are all great attributes of the gmail system. I also enjoy how it integrates with Google Calender.
2. YouTube/TeacherTube—The ability to quickly create a small learning piece and then distribute it to thousands of people instantaneously is great for quick pieces of instruction. I embed YouTube and TeacherTube videos into wikis and blogs all the time.

3. Wikispaces—I use it for classes I am conducting in which I embed YouTube and TeacherTube videos, Adobe PDF papers, MS Word documents, images and all sorts of stuff and then my students contribute to the discussion portion and continually add links and other information. The flexibility and versatility is great for running a collaborative class. MSIT Second Life wiki provides a rich community around the class and really fosters peer-to-peer learning.

4. Blogger—As an avid blogger, I find the tool easy to use and straightforward to set up and add posts…of course I have a laundry list of items that I'd like to see added but it does a great job for quick and easy blogging.

5. LinkedIn—The electronic Rolodex. I am linking up with people I have long forgotten and when I need to quickly find an email or a subject matter expert LinkedIn has the contact information I need whenever and where ever I happen to be (with web access of course)

6. Pageflakes—Great tool for visually aggregating RSS feeds. I use it to keep track of training blogosphere.

7. SecondLife—I think 3-D synchronous learning is the future. Learning the advantages and disadvantages early in the adoption cycle will help when the 3D web is a reality. Second Life might not be around in the future but it is a good tool for learning about the possibilities and has lead to exciting discoveries when teaching my students how to design for 3D worlds. I'm finding more and more used for it as I design learning events

8. PowerPoint—This tool can be highly effective if used correctly. It does have some interesting features and functionality. However, if used incorrectly…it is deadly boring. See Avoiding death by powerpoint for some tips

9. ProtoSphere by ProtonMedia--A cross between social networking tools like wikis and blogs as well as the ability to locate experts and a corporate 3D world, this software platform provides an interesting way of managing and connecting learning resources on a variety of fronts from a 3D face-to-face to a live chat complete with profiles and connects based on key words, an intriguing software platform.

10. Skype—Been involved with a project on the West Coast and have used Skype consistently to communicate. It is great for a quick call and the quality is good (most of the time).

Karl's Top 10 Tools as at 27 July 2007

1. Gmail—the search functionality, the threaded conversations and the ability to create groups and communication in real-time are all great attributes of the gmail system. It's great. Also Google Calendar …I use it all the time and Google Docs …great collaboration tool.

2. YouTube/TeacherTube—The ability to quickly create a small learning piece and then distribute it to thousands of people instantaneously is great for quick pieces of instruction. I embed YouTube and TeacherTube videos into wikis and blogs all the time.

3. Wikispaces—I've used it for a class I am conducting in which I embed YouTube and TeacherTube videos, Adobe PDF papers, MS Word documents, images and all sorts of stuff and then my students contribute to the discussion portion and continually add links and other information. The flexibility and versatility is great for running a collaborative class. MSIT Second Life wiki provides a rich community around the class and really fosters peer-to-peer learning.

4. Blogger—As an avid blogger, I find the tool easy to use and straightforward to set up and add posts…of course I have a laundry list of items that I'd like to see added but it does a great job for quick and easy blogging.

5. LinkedIn—The Rolodex of the 2000's and beyond. I am linking up with people I have long forgotten and when I need to quickly find an email or a subject matter expert LinkedIn has the contact information I need whenever and where ever I happen to be (with web access of course)

6. Pageflakes—Great tool for visually aggregating RSS feeds. I use it to keep track of training blogosphere. The tool recently under went some design changes for the worse but I am hopeful they will revise the interface shortly making it easier to set up and use.

7. SecondLife—.3-D synchronous learning is the future. Learning the advantages and disadvantages early in the adoption cycle will help when the 3D web is a reality. Second Life might not be around in the future but it is a good tool for learning about the possibilities and has lead to exciting discoveries when teaching my students how to design for 3D worlds. I'm finding more and more used for it as I design learning events

8. PowerPoint—This tool can be highly effective if used correctly. If used incorrectly…it is deadly boring. See Avoiding death by powerpoint for some tips

9. Adobe Breeze/Connect—This tool is great for quickly creating a recorded session and then distributing that session to learners. Additionally, it tracks number of hits and other key information. I use it both for recorded sessions and live sessions.

10. Articulate—The Engage addition to the Articulate product is impressive for quickly developing interactions and has help to improve a variety of learning programs which I have encountered.