Sunday, March 1, 2015
A Free Learning Tool for Every Learning Problem
- OpenCourseWare and Open Educational Resources
- 101 Free Learning Tools
- Printer-Friendly Version
NEW: 2014 VERSION
CLICK HERE for the latest version, including the 3 BIG QUESTIONS. Top 100+ Learning Tools on Planet Earth!
View more lists from Zaid Ali Alsagoff
OLD VERSION
Lets explore the idea that there is at least one excellent free learning tool (or site) for every learning problem, need or issue!- Easy-to-use and secure Internet browser? Firefox or Chrome
- e-Mail system? Gmail
- RSS reader? Google Reader
- Social bookmarking tool? del.icio.us
- Social bookmarking tool with collaborative learning features (groups, forums, etc.)? Diigo
- Social bookmarking tool that allows members to "pin" images, videos and links (URLs) to my pinboard(s)? Pinterest
- Social curation tool that also suggests content? Scoop.it
- Tool that helps me tell stories by curating social media? Storify
- Tool that summarizes my social news feeds (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader)? Summify
- Tool that enables me to capture, visualize, organize and share my bookmarks? SimplyBox
- Tool to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform? Evernote
- Tool to save pages for later? ReadItLater
- Tool to translate text or a webpage? Google Language Tools
- Online Calendar? Google Calendar
- Tool to aggregate all my resources, mail, RSS feeds, etc, in one place? Netvibes, iGoogle or Pageflakes
- Platform to incorporate all my favorite tools within one environment? Elgg
- fully featured electronic portfolio tool? Mahara
- Learning Management System (LMS)? Moodle
- Hosted LMS? Click Here!
- LMS that looks and feels like Facebook? Edmodo
- Tool to assist me in evaluating and selecting a LMS? EduTools
- Learning Activity Management System? LAMS
- Communication and collaboration tool for my University/College/School? Google Apps
- Social Networking tool? Facebook or Google+
- Professional social network? LinkedIn
- Microblogging tool? Twitter
- Twitter client? Tweetdeck
- Micro-blogging platform for my company? Yammer
- Social media dashboard? HootSuite
- Turn Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds into online newspapers? Paper.li
- Tool to organize, share my online life and discover that of others? Symbaloo
- Tool to create study groups and manage group projects? GroupTable
- Tool to keep track of my schoolwork (assignments)? Soshiku
- 3D online virtual world where I can socialize, connect and learn? Second Life
- Tool to create my own website? Google Sites
- Content Management System (CMS)? Joomla
- Tool to conduct webinars (Web Conferencing)? WiZiQ or BigBlueButton
- Tool to broadcast myself to the world? USTREAM
- Tool to make calls from my computer? Skype
- Videoconferencing chat service? Vawkr
- Content authoring tool? How about two? eXe & CourseLab
- Alternative to Microsoft Office? OpenOffice
- Online suite of office tools? Google Docs or Zoho
- Collaborative course authoring tool? Udutu
- Tool to create and share great video lessons with my iPad? Educreations or ShowMe
- Tool that accurately converts my PowerPoint to Flash (including animations)? iSpring Free
- Tool to share my slides? SlideShare, SlideBoom or authorSTREAM
- Presentation tool to create zooming (and awesome) presentations? Prezi
- Web authoring tool alternative to FrontPage and Dreamweaver? NvU or KompoZer
- Personal online notebook? Google Notebook
- Blogging tool? Blogger or WordPress
- WordPress-powered social network tool? BuddyPress
- Blogging tool for educators? Edublogs
- Directory of edubloggers from around the world? International Edubloggers Directory
- Wiki tool? Wikispaces, Wetpaint or Google Sites
- Encyclopedia, which I can add to or edit? Wikipedia
- Community dedicated to collaborative development of free content? WikiEducator
- Tool to transform media into collaborative spaces with video, voice and text commenting? VoiceThread
- Tool for storytelling? Here are 50!
- Tool for Collaborative Storytelling? Storybird
- Screencasting (recording) tool? Wink
- Hosted screencasting tool (more options)? Screenr, Jing or Screencast-0-matic
- Mindmapping tool? FreeMind
- Tool to brainstorm and create mindmaps online? Bubbl.us or MindMeister
- Easy-to-learn 3D authoring software tool? Google SketchUp
- Alternative to 3D Studio Max? Blender
- tool to make 3D models? Sculptris
- Tool to create comics and cartoons? ToonDoo
- Tool to create animations? GoAnimate
- Revolutionary real-time movie making software? xtranormal
- Audio recording tool? Audacity
- Tool to broadcast from any phone to the Internet live? ipadio
- Tool to create my own Internet Talk Radio Show? Blog Talk Radio
- Tool using my real voice to discuss my interests and passions with anyone? Voxopop
- Tool to record and host my audio recordings online? Odeo Studio
- Tool to convert text to speech? vozMe or iSpeech
- Tool for real-time spelling and translation? eType
- Tool to create personalized speaking avatars? Voki
- Photo/image editing tool? GIMP or Picasa
- Tool that turns my photos/video clips into professional video slideshows in minutes? Animoto
- Exciting word cloud generator? Wordle
- Tool to make an interactive poster? Glogster
- Online photo/image editing tool? Splashup
- Tool to create cool personalized images? Custom Sign Generator Widgets
- Image Resizer? Dosize
- Watermarking tool? uMark
- Screen Color Picker? ColorSchemer
- Tool to highlight text in a webpage? The Awesome Highlighter
- Tool to create flowcharts, diagrams, technical drawings? Gliffy
- Tool to make screenshots from different browsers with one click? Browsershots
- Tool to create PDFs from any Windows program? PDFCreator
- Tool to convert PDF to Word? PDF2Word Online
- Online file conversion tool (e.g. Word >PDF>PowerPoint)? Zamzar
- Online OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool? Free OCR
- QR Code, Semacode and Data Matrix Barcode Generator? QR Code Generator
- Tool to share my videos? YouTube, TeacherTube or Vimeo
- Tool to share any type of file with unlimited storage capacity? Internet Archive
- Online noticeboard? Padlet
- Online science research sharing portal? SciVee
- Online community to share and discuss instructional teacher videos? TeacherTube
- Online community to share, discuss and learn about the uses of educational technology? EdTechTalk
- Online community to test my big ideas? Big Think
- Service for engaging in conversation about news, thoughts and ideas people share? Amplify
- Tool to download videos from any video sharing site (YouTube, Metacafe, etc.)? ClipNabber
- Self-publishing tool (books, papers, articles, etc)? Scribd or Issuu
- Tool to share my pictures? Are you joking! Flickr
- Space to upload and share my files? eSnips
- File hosting solution to share huge files up? FileCrunch
- Tool to sync files online and across computers? Dropbox
- Tool for real-time file sharing and collaboration? drop.io
- Tool to save pages from my computer or phone for later readings? ReadItLater
- 3-ring binder for the Web? Livebinders
- URL shortener and tracker? bit.ly
- Online quiz tool? ClassMarker
- Tool to create interactive quizzes and puzzles? Hot Potatoes
- Tool to create quizzes with videos? ESL Video
- Tool to create web and print-based crossword puzzles? EclipseCrossword
- Inquiry-oriented lesson tool? WebQuest
- Multimedia flashcard tool? Quizlet or MemoryLifter
- Online survey tool? Click here to choose!
- Online polling tool with a bit of fizzle? Polldaddy
- Student Response System (SRS) that uses smartphones, laptops, and tablets and the web? Poll Everywhere or Socrative
- Tool to test which sites loads faster in my browser? Which Loads Faster?
- Tool to create Flash games (templates)? ClassTools.net
- Investment Simulation Game? Virtual Trader
- Interactive 3D business simulator? INNOV8
- Game to understand cancer better? Re-Mission
- Game to understand the scientific method and 21st Century Skills? River City
- Game to understand variable manipulations for urban management? SimCity
- Game to understand social studies better? Quest Atlantis
- Game to understand world hunger and efforts to alleviate it? WFP Foodforce
- Game to learn more vocabulary and help hungry people? Seriously! FreeRice
- List of at least 100 free juicy learning games to spice up my course(s)? Click Here!
- Range of interactive tools to help me understand maths concepts? Shodor Interactivate
- Collection of video tutorials (and assessment) to learn maths? Khan Academy
- Step-by-step math problem solver? Mathway
- Tool to publish my data online and create comparison tables? Tablefy
- Tool to create my own search engine tailored to my needs? Google Custom Search Engine
- Personalized search world? Historius
- Human-powered search engine? Mahalo
- Metasearch engine with visual display interfaces? What! Here is KartOO!
- Search tool presenting results from a large number of websites in different visual ways? Spezify
- Search engine that groups the results by topic via automated clustering technology? Vivisimo
- Science-specific search engine? Scirus
- All-in-one research search tool? Schoolr
- Tool to search query and then select a credible resource? SearchCredible
- Tool to help me collect, manage, and cite my research sources? Zotero
- Tool that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to my website? Google Analytics
- Tool to search, discover, rank and compare different sites around the world? Alexa
- Tool to search the full text of books? Google Book Search
- Tool to search for scholarly literature? Google Scholar
- Tool to search for patents? Google Patent Search
- Tool that sends me email updates of the latest relevant Google results (e.g. e-Learning)? Google Alerts
- Sticky and canvas service (post it)? Lino
- Energy saving search engine? Blackle
- Online visual dictionary and thesaurus? Visuwords
- World digital library? World Digital Library
- Tool to build and distribute my own digital library? Greenstone
- Site to find and search across all OpenCourseWare (OCW) courses? OpenCourseWare Consortium
- Repository and learning network of Open Educational Resources (OER)? OER Commons
- Site to get the latest updates on OER and OCW? OER Blogs
- Site to get access to thousands of free lectures? Academic Earth, iTunes U or YouTube EDU
- Portal to non-formal OER and training resources? Open Training Platform
- Encyclopedia of video tutorials to help me learn any software? Edumax or Wikivid
- Site to practice speaking English while I watch great videos? EnglishCentral
- e-Book to learn more about e-learning 2.0? Learning 2.0 eBook
- Site to learn more about rapid e-learning? The Rapid e-Learning Blog
- Site to learn more about Online Course Development? Hitchhiker’s Guide to Course Development
- Crash course in learning theory? Click here!
- Database of Learning Theories? Click here & here!
- Tool to help me understand and use learning styles effectively? Learning Styles Online.com
- Repository of creative and critical thinking tools? Mycoted to the rescue!
- Route to learn more about the 21st century skills? Route 21
- Repository of how everything works? HowStuffWorks
- Repository of lectures from the worlds top scientists? Videolectures.NET
- Repository of resources and simulation tools to learn more about nanotechnology? The nanoHUB
- Directory of academic open access repositories? OpenDOAR
- Site covering todays top social, political, and tech issues? FORA.tv
- Site to improve my learning skills? Study Guides & Strategies
- Gaming tool to help me learn ICT? ReviseICT.co.uk
- Tool to improve my typing skills? Peters Online Typing Course
- Tool to improve my reading skills? ZAP Reader
- Interactive courseware to improve my workplace skills? ALISON
- Multimedia site that enhance our understanding of war and its history? Maps-of-War
- 3D human anatomy visualization tool? Visible Body
- Site to learn languages? Free Language
- Tool to explore the World? Google Earth
- Tool to search and zoom maps of any country? Google Maps
- Tool to explore the Universe? WorldWide Telescope
- Tool to visualize human development? Gapminder
- Tool to answer all my questions? Wolfram|Alpha, Google Squared or Answer.com
- Site with talks by the worlds greatest thinkers and doers? TED is a good starting point!
- Article to reveal the secrets of the super-learners? Click here!
- Link to the most innovative web 2.0 (and 3.0) lab in the world? Google Labs
- Tool to stumble upon and discover great websites, videos, photos, etc. ? StumbleUpon
- Daily newsletter that keeps me updated with the latest news on online learning? Stephens OLDaily
- Site where I can learn more about social media and social learning? Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies
- Site dedicated to tracking the changes occurring in education today? Open Education
- Site to update me on the latest free instructional resources for Higher Education? Educational Technology
- Tool to track plagiarism? Plagium, Viper and more...
- Site to discover delicious free tools, resources, and sites? ZaidLearns Del.icio.us Discoveries
- Bla, Bla...
In short, for every learning problem (or issue) we have today, there is probably
a free tool or site out there that enables us to solve it. If not, I am pretty sure some genius out there is constructing it right now. If no one is doing it, perhaps we can do it.
a free tool or site out there that enables us to solve it. If not, I am pretty sure some genius out there is constructing it right now. If no one is doing it, perhaps we can do it.Another challenge is to integrate all our learning tools efficiently and effectively into our learning spaces. On the positive note, more and more tools are creating integration modules to widely used systems like Moodle and Facebook, so it might not be so difficult after all. Also, with OpenID we can increasingly login to all our favorite websites without much hassle. Single-login to all our learning tools! Now that is something we all can appreciate! Remember one password! Tough one!
If you want to experience my learning adventure as I discover, perhaps you should subscribe to my Del.icio.us Learning Adventure! Otherwise, you could always wait a week or two for the updates in this blog. Have fun Socratic Tooling to solve your learning problems and issues :)
