TOP 10 TOOLS 2007, 2008 & 2009
Steve Rayson

Steve Rayson is a Director of the e-learning consultancy, kineo based in Brighton in the UK. 

Steve's Top 10 Tools as at 10 May 2009

Steve has posted his about Top 10 tools list at the Kineo site at Steve's Top 10 Tools.  In summary they are:

1. RSS / iGoogle

2. Skype

3. Twitter

4. Moodle

5. Audacity

6. Flash

7. Articulate

8. Captivate

9. Photoshop

10. Dimdim

Steve's Top 10 Tools as at 16 September 2008

1. Sugar CRM - An open source customer relationship management system that does everything you need. Manage contacts, campaigns, opportunities and newsletters. We use this at Kineo to manage our client contacts and sales opportunities.

2. RSS feeds - I think this is simply one of the simplest and best technologies around. The first real push technology which delivers what I want.

3. iGoogle - I love my Google home page. I have set it up with a range pages of RSS feeds to keep me up to speed with what is happening in the market.

4. Skype - Skype is still the best when it comes to communication. I increasingly use it at work to chat to colleagues and clients, share files and have conference calls.

5. Moodle - Moodle goes from strength to strength. Over a quarter of small and medium sized businesses now use Moodle. It is an open source product which has come of age. It is easy to use, has masses of functionality and is very robust. Simply the best virtual learning environment and no licence fees!

6. Articulate - This simple tool makes it very easy to create engaging elearning quickly and cost-effectively. Engage was a great addition, making it very easy for anyone to create flash animations and include these in their elearning. Quizmaker is also a good quiz tool though hopefully we will see better integration with Articulate Presenter in the next releases.

7. Joomla - One of the best open source content management systems for building websites. Our own sites such www.kineoopensource.com  are built with Joomla.

8. Chrome - The latest from Google and already my favourite browser. Simple, clean and easy to use. The Apple Mac of browsers.

9. Surveymonkey - A powerful yet simple to use online survey tool. You can customise, share results and password protect your surveys.

10. Facebook - I was reluctant to add this one but this is where I keep up with what my kids are doing. I am amazed at the number of times they get tagged in picture albums. Their whole adolescent history is being documented in photographs on Facebook. Not that they always want me to see.

Steve's Top 10 Tools as at 11 January 2008

1. iGoogle - This is still my number one tool.  My RSS feeds are set up using iGoogle – my Google home page. However, you can use any number of readers. I love the fact I can set up RSS feeds for news and issues I want to track.

2. Articulate - A great tool for creating engaging elearning quickly and cost-effectively. See the free rapid elearning course created by Clive Shepherd at 60 minute masters to see what is possible.

3. Server based authoring tools. I have been very impressed with the potential of server based authoring tools and the use of online commenting for reviews. Two of the best I have used are Atlantic Link and Mohive.

4. Skype - Paying for your telephone calls is so last century. Internet telephony is changing the way people work and communicate. We use it to conference call for free. The quality has declined a little recently but I suspect this is due to its overwhelming popularity and usage

5. FreeMind - Still on the free tools. I love this free mind mapping software. Easy to use and a great way of managing and recording meetings live.

6. Moodle - Moodle just gets better and better.  Never had installing your own LMS been easier.  It is so easy to use, has masses of functionality and is very robust. Simply the best virtual learning environment and no licence fees! No wonder over 24% of small and medium sized US corporates use Moodle

7. Audacity - Audio is a versatile option for an elearning. With the free Audacity tool it is easy to produce, edit and publish audio as an MP3 or other file formats.

8. Flash - Not easy to get to grips with but a great tool for creating interactive and engaging learning. Increasingly you can find base code for the animations you want and build a library of reusable code to make things much faster. Developments with xml and better accessibility means Flash will increasingly be a tool of choice for more many creative elearning developers.

9. Captivate - A tool which simply does what is says on the tin. An easy to use screen capture tool which can be used for a wide range of e-learning. Probably the most used tool in this area I suspect

10. Photoshop - Along with Flash this is my creative space as I don't do music. Photoshop maybe a bit unwieldy but it is great for playing with images and optimising for the web. If you can't afford this you can always get GIMP which is free.

Steve's Top 10 Tools as at 12 July 2007

1. RSS/iGoogle - Keeping pace with information is a major challenge so my first choice is a technology that drives what I look at every day when I open my browser – RSS feeds. My RSS feeds are set up using iGoogle – my Google home page but you can use any number of readers. I love the fact I can set up RSS feeds for news and issues I want to track.

2. Skype - This is a great free tool. Internet telephony is changing the way people work and communicate. We use it to conference call for free. Even my dad has just got Skype and keeps in touch wherever I am. Though I have deliberately avoided getting a video camera. Though you should never call a mobile you can call landlines across the rest of the world for months for £10.

3. FreeMind - Still on the free tools. I love this free mind mapping software. Easy to use and a great way of managing and recording meetings live.

4. Moodle - I am not sure if this counts as a tool but Clive included it! Moodle will change the face of the elearning industry in my view. It is an open source product which has come of age. It is easy to use, has masses of functionality and is very robust. Simply the best virtual learning environment and no licence fees!

5. Audacity - Audio is a versatile option for an elearning. With the free Audacity tool it is easy to produce, edit and publish audio as an MP3 or other file formats.

6. Flash - Not easy to get to grips with but a great tool for creating interactive and engaging learning. Increasingly you can find base code for the animations you want and build a library of reusable code to make things much faster. Developments with xml and better accessibility means Flash will increasingly be a tool of choice for more many creative elearning developers.

7. Articulate- This great tool also uses flash but makes it very easy to create engaging elearning quickly and cost-effectively. Engage was a great addition, making it very easy for anyone to create flash animations and include these in their elearning. Quizmaker is also a good quiz tool though hopefully we will see better integration with Articulate Presenter in the next releases.

8. Captivate - A tool which simply does what is says on the tin. An easy to use screen capture tool which can be used for a wide range of e-learning. Probably the most used tool in this area I suspect

9. Photoshop - Along with Flash this is my creative space as I don't do music. Photoshop maybe a bit unwieldy but it is great for playing with images and optimising for the web. If you can't afford this you can always get GIMP which is free.

10. Yugma - Collaboration is coming of age on the web and Yugma through its free online conferencing service is a useful way of exploring these developments. Up to 10 users are free, including desktop sharing, annotation tools and whiteboarding. If you don’t want the ads you can pay $90 a year.