Let's explore the idea that there is at least one excellent free learning tool (or site) for every learning problem, need or issue!
I want a FREE:
- Easy-to-use and secure Internet browser? Firefox
- e-Mail system? Gmail
- Social bookmarking tool? del.icio.us
- Social bookmarking tool with collaborative learning features (groups, forums, etc.)? Diigo
- Tool that enables me to capture, visualize, organize and share my bookmarks? SimplyBox
- Tool to translate text or a webpage? Google Language Tools
- RSS reader? Omea Reader
- Online RSS reader? Google Reader
- 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
- Learning Management System (LMS)? Easy, Moodle
- Hosted LMS? Here are SEVEN!
- Tool to assist me in evaluating and selecting a LMS? EduTools
- Learning Activity Management System? LAMS
- Collaboration tool? Connect with Ning
- Social Networking tool? Tricky one! Facebook
- 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
- Content Management System (CMS)? Joomla
- Tool to create my own website? Webnode
- Virtual Classroom? DimDim
- Hosted Virtual Classroom? WiZiQ
- 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
- Tool that accurately converts my PowerPoint to Flash (including animations)? iSpring Free
- Web authoring tool alternative to FrontPage and Dreamweaver? NvU or KompoZer
- Personal online notebook? Google Notebook
- Blogging tool? WordPress! Why aren't you using WordPress? Good Question!
- Blogging tool for educators? Edublogs
- Directory of edubloggers from around the world? International Edubloggers Directory
- Microblogging tool? Twitter
- Microblogging tool for education? Edmodo
- Microblogging tool for companies? Yammer
- Wiki tool? PBwiki
- Encyclopedia, which I can add to or edit? Wikipedia
- Community dedicated to collaborative development of free content? WikiEducator
- Audio recording tool? Audacity
- Tool to record and host my audio recordings online? Odeo Studio
- Tool to transform media into collaborative spaces with video, voice and text commenting? VoiceThread
- Tool for storytelling? Here are 50!
- Screencasting (recording) tool? Wink
- Hosted screencasting tool (more options)? Jing or Flowgram
- 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
- Photo/image editing tool? GIMP or Picasa
- 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 create comics and cartoons? ToonDoo
- Tool to create animations? GoAnimate
- Tool to make screenshots from different browsers with one click? Browsershots
- Tool to create PDFs from any Windows program? PDFCreator
- Online file conversion tool (e.g. Word >PDF>PowerPoint)? Zamzar
- Tool to share my slides? SlideShare, SlideBoom or authorSTREAM
- Tool to share my videos? YouTube or TeacherTube
- Tool to share any type of file with unlimited storage capacity? Internet Archive
- 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
- Tool to download videos from any video sharing site (YouTube, Metacafe, etc.)? ClipNabber
- Self-publishing tool (books, papers, articles, etc)? Scribd
- Tool to share my pictures? Are you joking! Flickr
- Space to upload and share my files? eSnips
- File hosting solution that allows me to share files up to 250MB each? FileCrunch
- Online quiz tool? ClassMarker
- Tool to create interactive quizzes and puzzles? Hot Potatoes
- Tool to create web and print-based crossword puzzles? EclipseCrossword
- Inquiry-oriented lesson tool? WebQuest
- Multimedia flashcard software? MemoryLifter
- Online polling tool with a bit of fizzle? Polldaddy
- Online survey tool? Click here to choose!
- 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
- Range of interactive tools to help me understand maths concepts? Shodor Interactivate
- 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
- Human-powered search engine? Mahalo
- Metasearch engine with visual display interfaces? What! Here is KartOO!
- 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 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
- 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
- Portal to non-formal OER and training resources? Open Training Platform
- Encyclopedia of video tutorials to help me learn any software? Edumax or Wikivid
- 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 world's top scientists? Videolectures.NET
- Directory of academic open access repositories? OpenDOAR
- Site covering today's 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? Peter's 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
- Tool to learn languages? Mango
- Tool to explore the World? Google Earth
- Tool to explore the Universe? WorldWide Telescope
- Tool to visualize human development? Gapminder
- Tool to answer all my questions? Answer.com
- Site with talks by the world's 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? Stephen's OLDaily
- 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? EduResources Weblog & Educational Technology
- Site to discover delicious free tools, resources, and sites? ZaidLearn's Del.icio.us Discoveries
- Site to make you shut up? About time! Here we go:
25 (must-have free) Tools: Professional Development Programme (Jane Knight)
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.
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 :)
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