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WRITER'S TOOLBOX: 35 Best Tools for Writing Online December 13, 2008 - 7:38 pm PDT - by Paul Glazowski 44 Comments Whether you're new to the world of authorship or a veteran trying to make the most of Web services and applications, there are a number of online tools for writers of all types. From blogging platforms to networking hotbeds, and job boards to real-world gatherings, and more, the supply of utilities is comprehensive, to say the least. But finding them all can be hard-going, so we've taken the liberty to make the discovery process easier by arranging our top finds here for your perusal. Here are 35 of the best social media tools for writers.

FORA.tv is the world's first on-demand, interactive fully searchable media portal delivering spoken words from the world's great writers, leaders, activists and thinkers. FORA community members can experience content via its immersive website with synchronized transcripts, chapters and user generated posts and content. It is one of the primary goals of FORA.tv to foster discussion and debate on issues relevant to our time. To that end, FORA.tv does not endorse viewpoints expressed by the speakers in our videos. Dissenting opinions are welcome and encouraged in our video comments (but keep it civil, please).

OpenZine is a publishing platform with web browser based tools that provides an easy way for anyone to make their own magazine, for free. The best way to describe what OpenZine provides is by understanding how magazines work. Magazines have a staff of writers, photographers, designers, illustrators and editors that create & contribute. Here at OpenZine you create & contribute on those same principles but your resources are other OpenZine users! To preserving the design experience of print we've created amazingly powerful one click layouts. You can even change them as you go! Create your magazine cover online with the OhhZee Image Editor. In just a few clicks, you can add shapes, text and effects the OhhZee way!

Defining Tools for a New Learning Space: Writing and Reading Class Blogs Sarah Hurlburt Assistant Professor Department of Foreign Languages and Literature Whitman College Walla Walla, WA USA hurlbuse@whitman.edu Abstract This paper uses specific issues surrounding course blogging to provide a series of reflections regarding the articulation between pedagogy and technology in creating a next generation learning space and discourse community. It investigates the underlying structure and necessary constituent elements of a successful blog assignment and examines the notion of natural and unnatural virtual environments and the roles of the reader and the writer-reader. It suggests that blog assignments may not succeed equally well in all subject areas and gives a number of possible reasons. Furthermore, it posits a more nuanced criterion for the definition of goals and the evaluation of the success of a blog assignment as a learning community beyond the presence or absence of comments. Keywords: Web 2.0, learning communities, reader anxiety, constructivist learning, discourse communities, comments

A history of technology-mediated learning The following is a section from my PhD thesis. It is part of the "Past Experience" section of the Ps Framework. It aims to give a potted history of technology-mediated learning and show how it connects with e-learning. Since these terms are somewhat overused, it starts with some definitions. The plan is that this history will be used to identify lessons from history, which e-learning (generally) hasn't learned. I've been working on this for at least a month. I have been doing other work on the thesis, but the fact that this has take soooo long is not all the heartening. I think perhaps may sights are set a little high. The alternatives are that I'm either a crap writer or I'm currently not in the mood to write. We'll see where we go from here. The following has not been proof-read thoroughly. I'm leaving that for a later task. If you have any suggestions for improvement, fire away.

"Journalists everywhere are starting blogs and entering the next phase in the history of journalism. Whether you call it Journalism 2.0, or a shift in media consciousness. It's pretty clear, the game has completely transformed. Transformation for the Better As the future of journalism unfolds, we're beginning to see just how beneficial this shift is for the writers out there. 1. We can interact directly with our audience. 2. We can write for a small audience, about what we care about. 3. We can profit directly, and immediately, from our writing. 4. We can build a reputation for ourselves, outside of an institution. The challenge is that journalists have to overcome a radical shift in thinking: whereas in the past we just concentrated in writing, and our business did all of our marketing and publishing. Us journalists of the future have to become a one-man journalistic machine. We have to take our writing from the idea to the audience all by ourselves. In blogging, there are a lot of things you need to consider to hit that mark of success. Suddenly, it isn't as easy to just write and publish blog posts! Know these most important tasks you need to do for your blog:"