Top 100 Social Media Tools 39 comments
Not sure if this is something to be proud of, or ashamed about, but I’m using (or have used) about 70% of the applications in the list. The encouraging thing is to note how many of these applications are free to use. Others might have applicable promo code discounts.
The list has been compiled from a cohort of learning professionals who shared their Top 10 Tools for Learning both for their own personal learning/productivity and for creating learning solutions for others.
If you want to influence the list and rankings, then head off to the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies.
TOP 10
Key to availability: D=download; H=hosted; C=insert code onto page
|
Ranking |
Tool |
Votes |
Description |
Cost |
Avail |
|
|
2008 |
2007 |
|||||
|
1 |
2 |
58 |
del.icio.us Social bookmarking tool |
Free |
H |
|
|
2 |
1 |
50.5 |
Firefox Web browser |
Free |
D |
|
|
3 |
3= |
43.5 |
Skype Instant messaging, VoIP tool |
Free |
D |
|
|
4 |
7= |
42 |
Google Reader RSS/Feed reader |
Free |
H |
|
|
5 |
3= |
38.5 |
Google Search Web search tool |
Free |
H |
|
|
6 |
6 |
35 |
WordPress Blogging tool |
Free |
H/D |
|
|
7 |
5 |
32.5 |
PowerPoint Presentation software |
£ |
D |
|
|
8 |
14 |
29 |
Google Docs Web-based documents |
Free |
H |
|
|
9 |
11 |
28 |
Audacity Sound editor and recorder |
Free |
D |
|
|
10 |
7= |
27 |
GMail Web-based email |
Free |
H |
|
TOP 11-20
|
Ranking |
Tool |
Votes |
Description |
Cost |
Avail |
|
|
2008 |
2007 |
|||||
|
11 |
26= |
26.5 |
Wikipedia Online encylopedia |
Free |
H |
|
|
12 |
9 |
26 |
Blogger Blogging tool |
Free |
H |
|
|
13 |
12= |
26 |
Moodle Course management system |
Free |
D/H |
|
|
14= |
17= |
20 |
iGoogle Personalised start page |
Free |
H |
|
|
31= |
20 |
Slideshare Hosting/sharing presentations |
Free |
H |
||
|
16= |
22= |
19 |
YouTube Video hosting/sharing site. |
Free |
H |
|
|
16 |
19 |
flickr Photo storage/sharing site |
Free |
H |
||
|
43= |
19 |
twitter Microblogging and social network |
Free |
H |
||
|
19 |
31= |
18 |
Ning Social networking tool |
Free |
H |
|
|
20 |
15 |
17 |
Wikispaces Wiki tool |
Free/£ |
H |
|
22-91
|
Ranking |
Tool |
Votes |
Description |
Cost |
Avail |
|
|
2008 |
2007 |
|||||
|
21= |
22= |
15 |
Articulate Presenter/Engage/Quizmaker |
£ |
D |
|
|
101= |
15 |
VoiceThread Collaborative slideshows |
Free/£ |
H |
||
|
23= |
12= |
13 |
Bloglines RSS/Feed reader |
Free |
H |
|
|
26= |
13 |
Snagit Screen capture tool |
Free/£ |
D |
||
|
10 |
13 |
Word Word processing software |
£ |
D |
||
|
26 |
17= |
12 |
Captivate Demo and scenario-based tool |
£ |
D |
|
|
27= |
17= |
11 |
Facebook Social networking site |
Free |
H |
|
|
26= |
11 |
iTunes Music and podcast player |
Free |
D |
||
|
29 |
17= |
10 |
Outlook Email software |
£ |
D |
|
|
30 |
43= |
9 |
Flash Animation authoring tool |
£ |
D |
|
|
36= |
9 |
Google Calendar Web-based calendar |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
9 |
Jing Record/share screen captures/casts |
Free |
D/H |
||
|
101= |
9 |
Pageflakes Start page |
Free |
H |
||
|
57= |
9 |
Zoho Suite Online office suite |
Free |
H |
||
|
35= |
50= |
8 |
Camtasia Studio Screencasting tool |
£ |
D |
|
|
31= |
8 |
LinkedIn Social network |
Free/£ |
H |
||
|
17= |
8 |
MindManager Mind mapping tool |
£ |
D |
||
|
38= |
31= |
7 |
OpenOffice Office software suite |
Free |
D |
|
|
43= |
7 |
PB Wiki Wiki tool |
Free/£ |
H |
||
|
57= |
7 |
TypePad Blogging tool |
£ |
H |
||
|
41= |
26= |
6 |
Dreamweaver Web authoring tool |
£ |
D |
|
|
36= |
6 |
Google Maps Maps of the US. UK, etc |
Free |
H |
||
|
101= |
6 |
Second Life Virtual world application |
Free |
H |
||
|
44 |
22= |
5.5 |
Excel Spreadsheet software |
£ |
D |
|
|
45= |
72= |
5 |
Adobe Connect Web meeting/conferencing |
£ |
H |
|
|
- |
5 |
Blogs and blogging tools Of all types |
Free/£ |
H/D |
||
|
72= |
5 |
diigo Social bookmarking |
Free |
H |
||
|
72= |
5 |
edublogs Blogging tool for educators |
Free |
H |
||
|
72= |
5 |
eXe SCORM content authoring |
Free |
D |
||
|
50= |
5 |
Freemind Mind mapping tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
4 |
Garageband Personal recording studio |
Free |
D |
||
|
57= |
5 |
Google Alerts Keep track of new information |
Free |
H |
||
|
101= |
5 |
Google Apps Communication/collaboration |
£ |
H |
||
|
31= |
5 |
Internet Explorer Web browser |
Free |
D |
||
|
43= |
5 |
iPod MP3 player |
£ |
- |
||
|
72= |
5 |
Keynote Presentation software |
£ |
D |
||
|
26= |
5 |
Netvibes Personal start page |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
5 |
Nvu Web authoring tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
5 |
Wetpaint Wiki tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
58 |
72= |
4.5 |
Adobe Reader PDF Reader |
Free |
D |
|
|
59= |
50= |
4 |
Photoshop Photo/Image editing tools |
£ |
D |
|
|
- |
4 |
Basecamp Collaborative, project management tool |
Free/£ |
H |
||
|
50= |
4 |
Elluminate Web meeting/conferencing |
Free/£ |
H |
||
|
40= |
4 |
Google Earth Geographic information |
Free |
D |
||
|
36= |
4 |
Google Scholar Search for scholarly literature |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
4 |
LAMP Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
4 |
Notepad HTML and text editor |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
4 |
OneNote Personal Information Manager |
£ |
D |
||
|
- |
4 |
Opera/Opera mini Web browser |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
4 |
Paint.NET Image and photo editing |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
4 |
Stumbleupon Social bookmarking tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
4 |
Ustream Live, interactive broadcasting |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
4 |
Wink Software demonstration tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
4 |
Yugma Web meeting/conferencing |
Free/£ |
D |
||
|
73= |
22= |
3.5 |
Thunderbird Email client |
Free |
D |
|
|
74= |
101= |
3 |
Blackboard Course management system |
£ |
D |
|
|
101= |
3 |
Bubbl.us Mind mapping tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
3 |
ClassTools Create Flash-based learning |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
3 |
Drupal/DrupalEd Content management system |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
3 |
Filezilla FTP client |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
3 |
Furl Social bookmarking tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
3 |
Google Analytics Website analysis tool |
Free |
C |
||
|
101= |
3 |
Google Sites/Jotspot Wiki tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
3 |
iMovie Video editing software |
£ |
D |
||
|
- |
3 |
Lectora Course authoring tools |
£ |
D |
||
|
36= |
3 |
MediaWiki Wiki tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
3 |
Polldaddy Polling and survey tool |
Free |
H/C |
||
|
- |
3 |
RSS Really Simple Syndication |
Free |
- |
||
|
- |
3 |
Skitch Screen capture tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
3 |
SMART Board Interactive whiteboard tools |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
3 |
Survey Monkey Survey and questionnaire tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
57= |
3 |
Yahoo Mail Web-based email |
Free |
H |
||
|
91 |
57= |
2.5 |
TeacherTube Instructional video sharing site |
Free |
H |
|
92-133
|
Ranking |
Tool |
Votes |
Description |
Cost |
Avail |
|
|
2008 |
2007 |
|||||
|
92= |
72= |
2 |
Adobe Presenter Narrated presentations |
£ |
D |
|
|
72= |
2 |
Cmap Concept mapping tool |
Free/£ |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Comic Life Create comics from photos |
£ |
D |
||
|
101= |
2 |
CourseLab Course authoring tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
101= |
2 |
Cute PDF Writer PDF Conversion tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Digg Social bookmarking and rating |
Free |
H |
||
|
101= |
2 |
eSnips Upload and share files |
Free |
H |
||
|
101= |
2 |
FeedBlitz Feed to email service |
Free |
H |
||
|
101= |
2 |
Gabcast Phone in your podcast |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
Gcast Podcasting service |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
Geogebra Mathematics software |
Free |
D |
||
|
43= |
2 |
GIMP Image/photo editing tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
2 |
Gliffy Diagramming tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
40= |
2 |
Google Desktop Computer search/organiser |
Free |
D |
||
|
50= |
2 |
Google Notebook Personal online notebook |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
iPhoto Photo management tool |
£ |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Joomla! Content management system |
Free |
D |
||
|
101= |
2 |
Meebo Instant messaging tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
101= |
2 |
MindMeister Mind mapping tool |
Free/£ |
D |
||
|
101= |
2 |
Mozy Online backup tool |
£ |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
OmniFocus Task management tool |
£ |
D |
||
|
72= |
2 |
OmniGraffle Diagramming tool |
£ |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
OmniOutliner Keep track of projects |
£ |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
ooVoo Video chat and conferencing |
Free |
D/H |
||
|
72= |
2 |
Paint Shop Pro Image editing tool |
£ |
D |
||
|
57= |
2 |
Picasa Picture editing tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Portable apps Suite of apps for a USB stick |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
2 |
Quicksilver Interface to work with PC apps on Mac |
£ |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Remember the Milk Manage your tasks |
Free |
H |
||
|
72= |
2 |
Safari Web browser |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Scratch Create interactive stories/animations |
Free |
D/H |
||
|
50= |
2 |
Scribd Document hosting and sharing site |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
Sony Vegas Video Video production tool |
£ |
D |
||
|
72= |
2 |
TiddlyWiki Personal wiki tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Trillian IM Aggregator |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
tumblr Micro-blogging platform |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
Ubuntu Linux-based operating system |
Free |
D |
||
|
- |
2 |
Wikis Of all types |
Free |
D/H |
||
|
- |
2 |
Windows LiveWriter Desktop blogging tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
50= |
2 |
Yahoo Groups Community tool |
Free |
H |
||
|
- |
2 |
Zamzar Online file conversion tool |
Free |
D |
||
|
72= |
2 |
Zotero Firefox add-on to support research |
Free |
D |
||