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Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 As at 23 July 2009 151 Learning Professionals have shared their Top 10 Tools This is the 3rd year we have invited learning professionals from all over the world to share their top 10 tools for learning to help build the annual Top 100 Tools for Learning. Here's the emerging the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 list, where you can compare the rankings of the tools with the last two years. Note, by "learning" we mean both formal and informal learning (This list was used to produce the 25 Tools: A Toolbox 2009)

There are new web 2.0 tools appearing every day. Although some of these tools were not originally meant for use in the classroom, they can be extremely effective learning tools for today's technology geared students and their venturesome teachers. Many of these teachers are searching for the latest products and technologies to help them find easier and efficient ways to create productive learning in their students. More and more teachers are using blogs, podcasts and wikis, as another approach to teaching. We have created a list of 100 tools we think will encourage interactivity and engagement, motivate and empower your students, and create differentiation in their learning process.

So where do you start learning how to integrate technology into your classroom as well as how to use it for your ongoing professional development? And how do you stay current with the almost daily changes in the technology landscape? To find answers both general and specific, I talked to three strong advocates for incorporating technology into the learning process: Darren Draper, director of technology services for the Canyons School District, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah; Louise Maine, a science teacher at Punxsutawney Area High School, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania; and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, a digital-learning consultant and a cofounder of Powerful Learning Practice, a professional-development company that aids educators in adopting 21st-century teaching and learning practices.

This list has been compiled from the contributions of 223 learning professionals (from both education and workplace learning) who shared their Top 10 Tools for Learning both for their own personal learning/ productivity and for creating learning solutions for others.

Here's the emerging Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 list, where you can compare the rankings of the tools with the last two years. Note, by "learning" we mean both formal and informal learning .

Creative Web Tools For and By Kids is a project designed for students, ages 8 to 12, to use emerging technologies for engaging, thinking, learning, collaborating, creating, and innovating. The focus is on the use of free, open-source, or minimal cost tools, so the project can be replicated. An underlying goal is to demonstrate how advanced technological applications for enhancing learning can be implemented with only a computer and Internet access

These days teams can be dispersed all over the globe. With outsourcing, telecommuting, distance learning and complex project collaboration, it's often helpful to have tools that can assist with the various collaborative tasks need to be done by dispersed teams. I've put together a great list of 27 free web based tools that will help you and your teammates do nearly all the things you need to do to work together from different locations. There are virtual workspaces, customer service applications, project management tools, mindmapping and even online conferencing tools - all FREE! Have a look and see if you can use any of these to connect with others and collaborate!

"Most educators hope that their teaching touches students in exciting ways so that the information conveyed makes an impact. One sure way to engage students is to make their educational experience fun. New teachers just starting out as well as experienced teachers who could use a breath of fresh air in their curriculum will love all the great tools available on the Internet to help make their teaching more entertaining. Some of the following tools will have teachers and students exploring wikis, open courseware, Twitter, blogging, comics, videos, and incorporating plenty of other tools that will help make learning fun."

"Education technology has many supporters in its movement to alter traditional teaching methods. This list of the top 50 education technology blogs includes writers, technicians and social media experts…but they all are teachers. The "movers" are teachers who facilitate learning among other teachers and in the classroom, the "shakers" teach new philosophies and innovations, and the folks "on the ground" offer news, tools and methods of using those tools in the classroom. This list is divided into those three categories, and each link within those categories is listed alphabetically. The links lead straight to the recently updated blogs, and the descriptions supply information about that blogger's achievements, including careers and jobs."

In this day of high-stakes testing and frequent complaints from teachers that they "don't have time to use technology" in the classroom, this wiki seeks to bridge the gap to help teachers see that technology doesn't have to be an add-on that distracts them from focusing on the curriculum. Rather than accepting an either/or mentality, we can begin to connect technology to the accepted "best practices" that our districts expect to see in our classrooms. Readers and contributors will learn and share information about specific Web 2.0 tools that can be used by teachers, and strategies that can be used with those tools that align with and support research-based effective instructional methods. Reference will be made to specific instructional strategies and a variety of examples will be shared covering all content areas from K-12 to college/university levels. This wiki is an information resource as well as an interactive space where readers can add their own insights and strategies.

Powerful Learning Practice offers a unique opportunity for educators to participate in a long-term, job-embedded professional development program that immerses them in 21st Century learning environments. The PLP model is currently enabling hundreds of educators around the country to experience the transformative potential of social Web tools to build global learning communities and re-envision their own personal learning practice.

"Blogging is becoming more and more popular in the classroom. Teachers can blog to stay in touch with parents and students or they can incorporate blogs from all of the students as a learning tool. The beauty of the student blog is that children from Kindergarten to high school can blog. No matter how you use blogs in your classroom, these tools will help you get started, enhance your experience, or bring the students into the fun."

If you're not an avid follower of #edchat on Twitter, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to learn about some new Web 2.0 tools that are currently being used in classrooms around the world. That's because @chickensaltash posed a simple question to the PLN and there has been a huge swell of support as hundreds of people have jumped in to answer the question about which 5 Web 2.0 tools teachers are using in classrooms.

"Although, realistically, you would not use all of these technologies, you should be knowledgeable in what each of the following technology is and how it could be/might be used in a classroom.(\ "

100 favourite resources (articles postings, PDFs, presentations, etc) about learning tools and technologies in 2008

This is a collection of useful web 2.0 and social media applications for anyone in education. I have tried them all and I have seen the potential in them. Now it is up to you and your imagination to use them in your teaching or when studying! GREAT information and GREAT visual....

An online library of free videos for learners everywhere - find resources to help you learn just about anything, meet people who make a difference in their communities, and even discover new parts of the world. And Next Vista for Learning wants to post your educational videos online, too. Everyone has an insight to share and yours may be just what some student or teacher somewhere needs!

EdSurge was started in 2011 by Betsy Corcoran, Matt Bowman, Nick Punt and Agustin Vilaseca to connect the emerging community of edtech entrepreneurs and educators. We wanted to share detailed information about what new technologies could--and could not--do to support learning. We report on latest news and trends

There is no blinking the fact  that the type of students we teach today are completely different from last century's. We , definitely, need to look at some of the skills we, as teachers, need to equip ourselves with to better live up to the challenge. Among all the challenges we would have in education, there is not as daunting a challenge as catching students focus and getting them engaged in the learning process. For this particular reason, and in addition to the skills I initially mentioned in 21st Century Teaching Skills article, I would like to provide you  with another list of  some equally important digital skills that you, as a teacher, need to seriously consider if you want to pave the way for the 21st century teaching. I have added a list of web tools under each skill for teachers to better exploit it.

Creaza offers you an integrated, web-based toolbox for creative work, both at school and in your free time.  You use the toolbox along with various fully developed thematic universes:  historical periods, fairy-tales, fantasy worlds, and current challenges, such as climate/environment. Creaza integrates professional and user-generated content, creative tools and a social network in a new and innovative way. Users on Creaza have the opportunity to share their work with other Internet users and can give each other comments and suggestions on the products they choose to share. To use this service, all you need is Internet access, a web browser, and the Flash plug-in.  Creaza is available for PC, MAC, and Linux users alike.  Creaza is fully integrated with Fronter, who provides a platform for learning and collaboration. Fronter offers Creaza as a PlusPack integrated in their platform.