Blogger's Choice Awards (The Cult of the Amateur?)

URL: http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/
New York Times (NYT) Book Review: The Cult of the Amateur (Amazon)

"...Here you'll see which blogs are currently making an impact in the blogosphere. The blogs you see here are all nominated and voted on by users like yourself!"

I discovered by accident(al learning) the 'Blogger's Choice Awards' (site) yesterday, when I was checking out the latest juicy stuff on the Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) blog. I noticed that ITM had been nominated for 'Best Educational Blog". WOW! That is a great achievement! But, then I realized to my great joy, I could also register and nominate myself and get that cool Brag(ging) Badge on my site and look a bit impressive, too (Check-it-out on the right side of this blog. But please do not vote for me! I suppose I don't need to remind you :) ). To add more joy to my life, I can even vote for myself, which I of course did (Our ego is great!). This enabled my blog to jump ahead of all those nominated that forgot to vote for themselves. I still got a long way to reach the top, but at least I got one vote. It is amazing how much fun we can have promoting ourselves :)

The Juicy Part

I suppose the real joy of this site (for me), is that we can discover some of the great blogs in the different categories, and get connected to new people (or Gurus), ideas and resources. I especially find the Best Educational Blog category very interesting. Actually, this 'Blogger's Choice Awards' site is like an interactive community rated learning repository. You can actually find some really Juicy stuff there (after filtering out some of the junk or poor stuff)!

The Cult of the Amateur
But then, I came across this book called the "The Cult of the Amateur" by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen, and suddenly I woke up to another dimension of Web 2.0, which I had thought about, but not to that level. Here are some interesting quotes from his reflections to NYT (Source):

• “What the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.”
• “...when ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule.”
• “history has proven that the crowd is not often very wise”
• "...the idea of objectivity is becoming increasingly passé in the relativistic realm of the Web, where bloggers cherry-pick information and promote speculation and spin as fact. Whereas historians and journalists traditionally strived to deliver the best available truth possible, many bloggers revel in their own subjectivity..."
• "...democratized Web’s penchant for mash-ups, remixes and cut-and-paste jobs threaten not just copyright laws but also the very ideas of authorship and intellectual property."
• "...What you may not realize is that what is free is actually costing us a fortune...
• The new winners — Google, YouTube, MySpace, Craigslist, and the hundreds of start-ups hungry for a piece of the Web 2.0 pie — are unlikely to fill the shoes of the industries they are helping to undermine, in terms of products produced, jobs created, revenue generated or benefits conferred. By stealing away our eyeballs, the blogs and wikis are decimating the publishing, music and news-gathering industries that created the original content those Web sites ‘aggregate.’ Our culture is essentially cannibalizing its young, destroying the very sources of the content they crave.”

Although, I am not sure if I agree with all the extracted quotes above, I do believe that Andrew Keen is making some very important points that we certainly need to reflect more in the new world of Web 2.0 (or soon 3.0. Is it already here? What does Web 2.0 really mean anyway, besides the democratization of publishing and access to online read/write tools?).

Blogger's Choice Awards + The Cult of the Amateur = Ignorance + Bad Taste
Now, what has 'The Cult of the Amateur' to do with the 'Blogger's Choice Awards'? Andrew Keen says, “...history has proven that the crowd is not often very wise.", and looking at the current voting results for the 'Best Educational Blog' I have to subjectively agree here (hopefully the crowd will get a bit wiser before the closing date.) How come Stephen Downes' sensational blog (23 votes) and Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) blog (21 votes) have currently so few votes compared to the leaders? Also, there should be a bit more details to the evaluation criteria than simply "Best Educational Blog", like best educational blog for Schools, Colleges, University, Corporate Learning, Informal Learning, Life-Long Learning, etc. In addition, there should also be a few sub-categories (for 'Best Educational Blog') such as for best design, originality, creativity, relevance, content, fun, etc. Let's see what they will come up with next year.

What Really Matters!

Yeah, of course it is nice to be voted the best educational blog (popularity), but to me it cannot be compared to getting respect, recognition and appreciation from your peers or gurus, who can really differentiate the 'Wannabe' from the 'Real Deal'. For example, when a 'Learning Guru' like Joseph Hart recommends you or Stephen Downes quotes you (or comments your blog) you know you are doing something right. Yes, it feels good :)

Finally, I might have lost the battle for the best educational blog this year, but with the assistance of my super-ego and coaching from 'Yoda' I will have another go at it next year. Mark my words :)

The Ego strikes back! Please vote for me now! I need your support to be recognized as an amateur (I mean professional) :)

Learning 2.0 Conference (Future of Learning?)

URL: http://www.learning2.net.cn/

When, Where, What, Who, Why, How?

Missing Act?
I am perplexed (puzzled) that Stephen Downes is not one of the presenters or participants. He is probably busy with some research or other conferences. Well, I suppose I am still learning!

Any Juice?
Check out the reflections by the Learning Gurus (Wesley Fryer, Jamie McKenzie, Will Richardson, etc.) on what learning 2.0 means to them and how they believe education will evolve in the coming years. Also, if you explore a bit deeper, you will probably discover a few podcasts (and presentation slides soon I suppose) on the homepage. Here is a bit of juice from Wesley Fryer's reflections:

• "...While learning 1.0 was PASSIVE for the student, learning 2.0 is ACTIVE.
• While learning 1.0 was coercive and rigid, learning 2.0 is largely student-directed, optional, and filled with choices.
• While learning 1.0 was relatively monolithic and consistent in its form and roles for teachers and students, learning 2.0 is diverse and multi-faceted.

Our present conversation about “learning 2.0,” “school 2.0,” and “web 2.0″ is largely inspired by fundamental shifts in the way information is published and shared on our planet. In every previous era of human history, access to the means of publication for a national or international audience was sharply controlled by a limited number of wealthy elites. The “common person” rarely had the opportunity to publish ideas for a large audience without the assistance of those elites who controlled the means of publication. The invention of moveable type and the printing press in the mid-1400s ushered in dramatic changes in the access which everyday people had to texts and ideas, but it did not democratize the means of publication in the same way the read/write web or web 2.0 has done in the early 21st century...more" :)

Classtools.net (Create Educational Flash Games On-The-Fly)

URL: http://www.classtools.net/

"Create educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! ClassTools.net is a FREE website allowing teachers and students to create interactive Flash diagrams for learning and revising material."

Learning while having fun Playing Games!
This is an online educational game creator that you can have a lot of fun with developing interactive games, activities and diagrams on-the-fly for your students (or friends). Currently, it has around 15 different templates to play around with, but I won't be surprised if this number is increased into a triple digit soon (it also invites others to share templates with them) . ClassTools.net is a really easy-to-learn and use educational game creator, and now it even enables you to create links to your games direct from your blog or website. Although, some of the templates perhaps need a face lift, it is certainly a great start and it is free (for crying out loud!). Here is an example created by Lauren Eno (Thanks in advance for sharing!).

click here for full screen version

Have fun creating Flash-based educational games without requiring a programmer or a graphic designer :)

Study Guides & Strategies to Think Like a Genius!

Study Guides & Strategies: http://www.studygs.net/
Exercises & Games: http://www.studygs.net/exercises.htm
Thinking Like a Genius: http://www.studygs.net/genius.htm

Study Guides & Strategies

"The Study Guides and Strategies web site is authored, maintained and supported by Joe Landsberger as an independent educational public service. Collaborative projects are developed across institutional, cultural and national boundaries. I resist advertising, registration, and distracting graphics or features that may interfere with maximizing learner access."

Copyright?

"Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt, and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners. No request to link to the Web site is necessary. Please be aware that the Guides welcome, and are under, continuous review and revision. For that reason, reproduction of all content on the Internet can only be with permission through a licensed agreement ...more"

Any Juice?

The first time you visit the 'Study Guides & Strategies' site, you might be thinking "Big deal! Just a lifeless text-based site with a lot of hyperlinks to whatever! I better get back to the real life in my 'Second Life'!" Wait a minute, give this site a minute or two and you will discover some amazing articles or tools that could assist you in becoming a more effective learner (Don't judge a book or site by its cover!). In 2006 alone, this amazing site had 11.8 million page views. I wonder why? The best way to find out is to explore some of the wonderful study guides on this site covering topics such as learning (preparation), studying, classroom participation, learning with others, online learning and communicating, reading skills, preparing for tests, research, projects and much more.

This amazing collection of study guides are written using a simple and effective design philosophy, which enables us easily to digest and learn (No unnecessary jargon and graphics! Also, the study guides are perfect for handouts, too!). On top of that, many of these study guides are translated into several languages (around 30), including Arabic, French, Indonesian, and Spanish (The different language translations (clickable icons) are displayed on the left side of the index page). Interestingly, now they have also added some easy-to-learn/use exercises and games (developed by students for students!), which are intended to reinforce or complement the selected Study Guides topics (I had fun trying the speed reading game!).

Thinking like a Genius!

Are you getting excited? If not, I will just have to share with you nine (9) quick tips from the site on how to think like a genius:

1. Look at problems in many different ways, and find new perspectives that no one else has taken (or no one else has publicized!)
2. Visualize!
3. Produce! A distinguishing characteristic of genius is productivity.
4. Make novel combinations. Combine, and recombine, ideas, images, and thoughts into different combinations no matter how incongruent or unusual.
5. Form relationships; make connections between dissimilar subjects.
6. Think in opposites.
7. Think metaphorically.
8. Prepare yourself for chance.
9. The practice of genius

If you are planning to develop a study guide for your students, you should perhaps consider using the 'Study Guides & Strategies' site as your main reference. Why reinvent the wheel (I mean Study Guides)?

Joe Landsberger (and his team) deserves a 'Honky Tonk Yamaguchi!' thumbs up for this amazing project :)

TeacherTube - Teach the World?

URL: http://www.teachertube.com/

"TeacherTube was officially launched on March 6, 2007. Their goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. They seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

TeacherTube was the idea of Jason Smith, a 14-year veteran educator. Jason has been a teacher, coach, campus administrator and district administrator in public schools. He asked the question, "Why can't teachers, students, and schools utilize the power of the read/write web for learning?" To overcome barriers, he decided to just create a site and get started trying to help...

With TeacherTube, community members can:

• Upload, tag and share videos worldwide.
• Upload Support Files to attach your educational Actvities, Assessments, Lesson Plans, Notes, and Other file formats to your video.
• Browse hundreds of videos uploaded by community members.
• Find, join and create video groups to connect with people who have similar interests.
• Customize the experience by subscribing to member videos, saving favorites, and creating playlists.
• Integrate TeacherTube videos on websites using video embeds or APIs.
• Make videos public or private - users can elect to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with those they invite.

Most importantly, TeacherTube community members are a major part of the evolution of the site. Members are encouraged to not only upload educationally relevant videos, but also to make constructive comments and use the rating system to show appreciation for videos of value to one as an educator or learner. Users also have the ability to preserve the integrity of the site by flagging inappropriate videos. TeacherTube staff review flagged sites and will remove any inappropriate posts. With more collegial commentary and discussion through messaging and responses, the quality of this resource will only increase ...more"

(An excellent video (PowerPoint style) by Karl Fisch that helps raise awareness of the issues of globalization in our newly connected world first raised in Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat. Explore and Learn!)

I did explore TeacherTube a few months back when it was first launched (How could I not with all the hype flying around!), but I was far from impressed back then with the quantity and quality of video content. However, this is expected as it takes time to evolve a community built repository. Today, you can find an amazing amount of content on this site, so the quantity factor is certainly there (perhaps not in particular areas, but in general). Though, my worry or obsession is looking for (I mean finding!) the quality stuff, and believe here is a grey area difficult to achieve, based on what we see in YouTube, Yahoo, MSN and Google Video (At least what I have experienced with my subjective lens). Although, it uses multiple methods (ratings, favorites, comments, most viewed, groups, channels, etc.) to filter out the poor stuff from the quality, Can we really trust the wisdom of the crowds? Experts opinion Vs Wisdom of the Community, which one do you prefer? If we can have access to both groups' reflections easily, now that would be great! Coming to think of it, how do we distinguish between an expert and a non-expert? Please, help me out here!

Interestingly, there is gentle note on the site's banner saying "Keep it SAFE! Flag all Inappropriate Videos (Is this a serious problem already?)." In addition, they should perhaps add "Keep it easy to find relevant videos, flag all inappropriate tags." Yes, I like Folksonomies, but there must be some effective ways to ensure that the tags really represent (at least closely to) the content of the videos to ensure better 'Findability'. Perhaps, there should be limits to the amount of tags for each video, or a kind of 'tags ranking approach' faciliting a better search. Hmmm, yeah if it gets more complicated, no one will bother uploading, so one needs to find a middle ground I suppose.

Overall, if you have a good Internet line (preferably broadband) then TeacherTube can teach you some important lessons (if you are able to find them), but if you are stuck with a dial-up connection perhaps you should stick to Wikipedia or some other inspiring and relevant text-oriented knowledge repository.

Finally and importantly, we should not only consume (or re-construct in our mind and reflect) knowledge at sites like TeacherTube, but also participate in contributing, collaborating (with the community) and creating new knowledge, so perhaps it is time for us to share a video or two on TeacherTube :)

Free Books about E-Learning (Jane Knight)

URL: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/resources/freebooks.html

Jane Knight's Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies site has a great webpage on a growing list of free books and free chapters from printed books about e-learning. Currently, you can find the following free e-books there (Check the URL above for the latest update):

1. Informal Learning (Chapter 1 only) - Jay Cross
2. The Unofficial Complete Fool's Guide to Second Life - Foolish Frost
3. Business & Management & Online MBAs - GetEducated.com
4. Guide to Online Education - eLearners.com
5. 834 Tips for Successful Online Instruction - eLearning Guild
   
6. Wikis - The Wikification of College Research
7. Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge your day - Lifehacker
8. Cappuccino U - Jerome Martin
9. Knowing Knowledge - George Siemens
10. Coming of age:an introduction to the new world wide web - Terry Freedman
11. Educating the Net Generation- Educause eBook edited by Diana Oblinger
12. Moodle E-Learning Course Development - William Rice
13. E-Learning Concepts & Techniques Book- Collaborative e-book project by Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania's Department of Instructional Technology students and guest authors
14. Information & Communication Technologies in Schools: A Handbook for Teachers - UNESCO
15. 339 Tips on the Implementation of an LMS or LCMS - eLearning Guild
16. 701 Free E-Learning Tips - Masie Center

WOW! Thanks to Jane Knight we have access to a tremendous list of excellent free e-books (or chapters) where we can learn more about e-learning, online facilitation, the net generation, LM(C)S implementation, and much more. Also, we should actually show great appreciation to all the authors that have contributed to the free education and content movement.

Yes, this is certainly a yummy, delicious and crispy free e-book collection for anyone interested in e-learning :)

Selecting LMS & Evaluating the Quality of Online Courses (Clayton R. Wright)

Author: Dr. Clayton R. Wright

• Selecting an Open-Source Online Course Development and Delivery Platform: An Academic Perspective: http://pcf4.dec.uwi.edu/viewpaper.php?id=278 (PDF Version)
• Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Online Courses: http://elearning.typepad.com/thelearnedman/ID/evaluatingcourses.pdf (PDF)
• Educational Technology and Related Educational Conferences: http://cider.athabascau.ca/events/conferences/

Selecting an Open-Source Online Course Development and Delivery Platform: An Academic Perspective (presented at PCF4)
"(Abstract) Increasingly, educators are implementing course development and delivery platforms to place their distance courses online in order to expand accessibility to educational opportunities, make use of multimedia capabilities, and provide effective management of the teaching and learning experience. These platforms are also referred to as course management systems (CMS), learning management systems (LMS), learning portals, or e-learning platforms. They are integrated, comprehensive software packages that support the development, delivery, evaluation, and administration of online courses and can be used in both traditional face-to-face instruction and in an online environment. The decision to obtain such software is frequently made by administrators and computer managers. However, academics should play a significant role in this decision process, as they must create and manage an enticing, interactive learning environment that is easy for the instructors and learners to use. This paper focuses primarily on the instructor and learner perspectives of online course management systems, but also considers administrative factors such as student record keeping, technical requirements, and the cost of ownership. It is intended to meet the needs of educators who are contemplating the acquisition of this type of software or want to change from one platform to another ...more "

(This article also identifies an excellent LMS Evaluation Tool, which can be downloaded and is in spreadsheet or Excel format. So, now we can use EduTools or this tool to select and evaluate LMS (for free). The learning adventure is about to get fun!)

Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Online Courses

"(Overview) The criteria presented in this guide are based on the national and international experiences of staff in the Instructional Media and Design department at Grant MacEwan College. Although they were developed to assist educators in evaluating the effectiveness of online courses, they may also be used as guidelines for course developers. Initially, the evaluation criteria may seem overwhelming, but each item was selected because it identifies specific course components, qualities, or procedures proven to be helpful to learners and/or instructors. When using this list, focus first on the major question or questions under each heading. Then, as you review or develop a course, refer to the bulleted items to ensure that these criteria have been met. As you become more familiar with the items on the list, you will need to refer to it less frequently. Many courses are evaluated by internal and external reviewers. Consider asking each reviewer to evaluate a specific aspect of the online course by focusing on the list of specifications under one heading ...more". Also, you are recommended to explore his excellent article on Adapting Learning Materials for Distance Learning (PDF).

In addition to these three very useful and helpful articles, I strongly recommend that you explore Dr. Wright's comprehensive list of Educational Technology and Related Educational Conferences (developed on a voluntary basis). Although, I have known about his world famous list of conferences for a while, I am thrilled to discover these three articles today, too. Actually, had I not e-mailed him to promote my blog (Shameless Self-Promotion, which is something I have learned indirectly from Chris Pirillo), I would probably have ignored three very important resources, which can assist us to make better decisions regarding selecting an LMS, evaluating the quality of online courses and adapting learning materials for distance learning. In short, SHARING KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! The more you share knowledge with others, the more likely they will want to share knowledge with you. Yes, it is that simple :)

Eureka Repository (Collective Catalog of T&L Resources)

Eureka Project:http://eureka.ntic.org/
Eureka (English Version): http://en.eureka.ntic.org/
Guided Tour:http://eureka.ntic.org/videos/guided_tour.mov

"The Eureka project is an initiative of Vitrine Technologie-Éducation within the framework of a Quebec-Wallonia-Brussels joint venture. Its' main objective is to promote the sharing and exchange of learning object resources. It provides a collective catalog of teaching and learning resources gathered by various organizations involved in the production of ITC educational resources. Eureka’s shell is based on open source code. The data can be federated with other repositories built on a LOM application profile."

If you are still wondering "what is a learning object?", here is their definition:

"A learning object is usually a digital resource which can be incorporated into a teaching and learning assignment. It can also be an electronic publication, an artical and an interactive exercise, animation or video or audio document. The main idea is that the resource is sufficiently modular that it can be reused in different contexts than for which it was created. A video for road safety could, for example be used in a physics course (acceleration, vectors) or psychology ) reflexes, alcohol and drug use) ...more"

According to Pierre-Julien Guay they are in the process of populating the repository (Currently there are 5278 resources), and are looking forward to share metadata descriptions with other repositories. It is an interesting project, which hopefully will encourage a lot of knowledge sharing and participation.

Overall, I believe (based on what I have seen and read) one needs to have a dedicated team to populate these repositories (at least for starters), because it would be wishful thinking to believe that people will come where the technology is. From what I have learned when it comes to learning object repositories, is that people (in general) will come where there is quality content (or where they can find value) and it is easy to locate the resources (simple and fast search). Another issue one should consider is whether to use a fixed taxonomy, or a folksonomy ( collaborative categorization using freely-chosen keywords called tags. E.g. del.icio.us), or a juicy combination.

Also, I am still dreaming of a learning object repository whereby we can upload (or link) learning objects without much hassle, and then the meta-data (or tags) are automatically (and intelligently) generated on-the-fly without requiring to enter an exhausting number of entry fields. If some of the fields were entered wrongly we can of course update them as we like, but most of the hassle would have been taken care of due to the system's intelligent tag extraction methodology.

Finally, people are often more interested in networking and discussing their knowledge, ideas and thoughts than simply finding content online (Human beings are themselves dynamic and engaging learning repositories, especially within their own expertise and interests), meaning that all these resources should be dynamically linked to discussion groups, experts, communities, ratings, peer-review, comments, wikis and even blogs. By doing so, connectivism can really take place :)

NUS + CDTL = T&L e-Books (Simply Awesome!)

National University of Singapore (NUS)
Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL)

CDTL: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/

e-Books (Publications)
Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/handbook/
Ideas on Teaching: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/Ideas/
The Write Right Guide: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/wrg/

The Effective Student: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/ufm/sitemap.htm

(In addition, check out the inspiring CDTLink Newsletter, too)

• Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn (Handbook on Teaching) - "...aims to provide support for our faculty to maximise their teaching efficacy and enhance student learning. We want the NUS educational experience to be an enriching one that cultivates the multiple talents of our students. With this handbook, it is hoped that our faculty will be helped to teach more effectively and inventively in order to inspire and infect our students with their enthusiasm and passion for their fields of study. Then will our students experience the joy of intellectual curiosity and inquiry, the exhilaration of pushing the boundaries of knowledge, as well as the excitement of coherent, organised explanation leading to deep understanding." - Prof. Shih Choon Fong, President and Vice-Chancellor, NUS
• Ideas on Teaching - " (Currently 4 volumes) Each volume of Ideas on Teaching is a collection of short papers written by practising teachers (based on their own experiences in university teaching) that discusses specific topics and issues. The aim is to generate further thought and discussion, share tips, and encourage improvement in teaching." Real stories by Real people in the Real language. Surely we can discover a few great ideas or practices on how to facilitate effective and engaging learning from this yummy resource.
• The Write Right Guide - "This writing guide is written for the purpose of creating an awareness of these mistakes and suggesting ways to avoid them. In writing, the ultimate goal is to write well and enable readers to understand what we are writing. If we understand what makes writing work and how mistakes can be prevented, we will be able to achieve this goal" (Written by Christina Low and Daphne Pan).
• The Effective Student - "A Guide to Learning for the NUS Student. The online guide addresses six main areas: Orientation and adjusting to university life, Studying smart—the savvy student, Resources on campus, Effective learning—Enhancing productivity, Faculty information and Living in the halls. In addition, check out their Videos & links section where you will be able to access interesting videos on Time Management, Brain Power and Stress Management, and the Discover yourself section, which leads you through a set of thought provoking questions."

Some educators might be Googling Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Oxford and Cambridge looking for excellent teaching and learning resources, though it might actually be wiser to start our journey with NUS in Singapore (ranked 19th in QS World University Rankings 2006). Interestingly, I have only shared some of the delicious stuff one can find on NUS's CDTL site (Please, discover the rest for yourself). Also, I simply love the fact that they have used a lot of cartoons to attract our attention and engage our mind. Better yet, if we do not like what we see, they provide us URLs to the best teaching and learning resources found out there, and even a comprehensive list to Teaching and Learning Centers around to world. I am beginning to wonder if I really need to write a book on effective teaching and learning. Most of the juice is already out there! We just need to be a bit curious (Googling) and willing to learn :)

Schoolr (All-In-One Online Research Tool)

Schoolr: http://www.schoolr.com/
Schoolr's Blog: http://schoolr.wordpress.com/

This All-In-One search tool enables you to access several I-always-use sites (to find stuff) from one site, which currently include Reference.com family, Google, Wikipedia, Acrnonym Finder, Urban Dictionary, SparkNotes, NCSU, and unitconversion (Hopefully Answers.com and other juicy search sites could be added to the list soon). Since the search fields on Schoolr are linked directly to the sites they represent, it should not be difficult to add more (Though, information overload might kick-in).

Better yet, why not create a tool that enables us to add whatever tools we want to use for online researching (By the way the 'r' in Schoolr stands for 'research'), providing us the flexibility to access all our personal favorite juicy research tools from one site, saving us precious time. To add spice to it, we are able to see statistics on which research tools are mostly used, and who are using what, and the different combinations (on one site) used by anyone (according to the user's preferences), including gurus like Joseph Hart, Jay Cross, and Jane Knight (who linked me to this tool). For information overload geeks like me, I would like to see all these research tools search at once, meaning that we only need to enter once (one entry field only, saving us more precious time) with checkboxes to the research tools (and the ability to add new checkboxes as we discover), and then the window will split into 2,4,6, 8 or more smaller windows (depending upon your selected checkboxes), enabling us to multi-task between all the juice (or summarize the findings using some Artificial Intelligence and/or Fuzzy logic). Enough!!!!

In addition, there are surely many other things we could do to spice up and make this great initiative more crispy and delicious.

Actually (I am no programmer, so please ignore the rest of this post if it does not make sense), the technology behind this tool is not spectacular, but the idea is creative and innovative (Respect!). As far as I understand (after watching the Channel News video. Yeah, I liked the 'Chicken Little' promotion method, too!), it all came about when one whizz kid (founder) simply got fed up going to all these sites to do his online researching and solved his problem by creating Schoolr (all-in-one), and by doing so he has actually made our research life easier (if we use it, too).

So, if you are fed up, got a problem, or frustrated with something?

Please, remember that problems and frustrations are great opportunities to discover, invent, create, innovate,change the world, become famous, and make big bucks :)

EduTools (Decision-making tools for e-learning)

URL: http://www.edutools.info/index.jsp?pj=1

"WCET’s EduTools provides independent reviews, side-by-side comparisons, and consulting services to assist decision-making in the e-learning community.

• Course Management System – Compare reviews of the CMS products most commonly used in higher education and also used by many K-12 virtual schools.
• Online Course Evaluation Project – Compare reviews of online college, Advanced Placement®, and high school courses as conducted by the Monterey Institute of Technology and Education• WCALO Reviews of AP® Courses
• View the results of research projects • Learning object repository software • Student services products • e-Learning Policies • ePortfolios
  
  (EduTools is owned and operated by the WCET – the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications.)"

EduTools has been around for a few years already, but recently (Nov 2006) it has re-launched its project as a community-driven site, beginning with the Course Management System (CMS) site. It has a wonderful set of FREE tools that enable you evaluate CMS, online courses, e-learning policies, learning object repository software, etc (URLs above).

I especially like EduTools CMS tool, where you can get third-party reviews systematically customized to your preferences and needs (check-box whatever you want) on product information, side-by-side product comparisons, and making a decision (6 step process: Select Products, Custom Products, Choose Features, Custom Criteria, Apply Weights, and finally Assign Scores, and then 'Voila' the decision results are there for your evaluation team to further analyze (I wish it was that simple!).

Having said that you better use commercial e-learning decision-making tools from Brandon-Hall and Bersin & Associates, if you are planning to compare tools such as SumTotal and Saba (It might cost you a bit, but it could save you from wasting precious time and buckets of golden coins later). EduTools caters for now specifically to the higher education and K-12 community, and these particular two CMS are not currently on the product list (probably due to the fact that there are not many in these sectors using them.) Though, I do hope they will be added later, because it would be interesting to see how these two Lamborghinis would do compared to the rest of the bunch, especially against David Moodle (Open Source) and Goliath Blackboard (Commercial).

Interestingly, if you are stuck for example with choosing between Blackboard or Moodle, this CMS tool would be of great help to facilitate a better decision (in addition you could use the feature list to see whether other tools are also up to the mark).

Actually, I could go on talking about CMS, LMS, LCMS, VLE, Campus Management until the break of dawn as this was my area of specialty in the past (probably need some catching up now!). Though, whatever decision making tool you use to assist a better decision, you need people that know what they are talking about, and have the knowledge and experience to not get swayed when the pitching starts with feature fireworks from super product presentations getting the top management excited. If you do not have the expertise within the organization, I suppose you would need to outsource it to some qualified consultants, or some amazing people out there in the cyber galaxy willing to assist for free with their expertise (Wishful thinking, but surprisingly they might exist). However, EduTools provide excellent tools to keep the consultants on their toes, because they need to be more constructive and meaningful than what these tools can do with a few clicks :)

So, EduTools can play an important role to support you in making a better choice. In addition, here is my brief bulleted CMS evaluation criteria (to get you going):

• Core Features Comparison - Make sure you create your own criteria list (based on feedback from all potential stake holders and reflecting your full administrative and teaching and learning process) differentiating the essential and nice to have features. Study the EduTools decision making tool to get a better idea, if you are not sure.
• Ease-of-use - If the solution is not easy-to-use and learn (after a bit of testing) for students, academic staff, and administrators you should simply dump it out of the list. No point buying a Ferrari that can't get out of the garage.
• Ease-of-Customization - If you cannot customize (say 90%) of the CMS interface design and configure the features according to your needs and preferences without the help from the vendor or hard-coding, the product is perhaps not flexible to survive in your real world.
• Ease-to-Integrate with other existing systems in your organization (e.g. e-mail, CRM, ERP, etc).
• e-Learning Standards Compliant - SCORM, IMS, etc.
• Ease-of-Upgrading - Make sure you can afford it, and read all the details regarding this issue with hawk-eyes.
• T&L Features & Ease-of-use - There is no compromise here, because this is the real juice that is going to enable the academic staff (or Professor) to captain the mother ship (courses) through the galaxy engaging and collaborating with the students in the most inspiring learning environment (Quizzes, blogs, wikis, journals, chat, virtual classroom, instant messaging, forum, social bookmarking, podcasting, etc).
• Alright, the rest of the juice we can talk about over lunch :)

Actually, the real headache is not selecting an LMS, but the actual implementation of it. Though, if you can blend effectively the informal and formal learning part, and make learning fun during the journey, you have a great chance of disruptive success growth.

Finally, any CMS or more appropriately Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) needs at least one inspiring, passionate and easy-to-communicate with "Oracle" or "Captain" that plays a critical role in facilitating (guiding, supporting, training, having fun learning with, can count on, etc.) the rest of the inspired team (students, educators, administrators) to explore the knowledge galaxy with all the wonderful learning tools available.

Now, does your VLE have such a person or team?

TED Talks (Ideas worth spreading)

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design): http://www.ted.com/
TED Talks List: http://www.ted.com/talks
Hans Rosling's 2006 TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92
Hans Rosling's 2007 TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/140

"TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration."

"TED is an annual conference held in Monterey, California and recently, semi-annually in other cities around the world. TED describes itself as a "group of remarkable people that gather to exchange ideas of incalculable value". Its lectures cover a broad set of topics including science, arts, politics, global issues, architecture, music and more. The speakers themselves are from a wide variety of communities and disciplines. The TED Conference also has a companion conference, TED Global, held in varying locations...In 2005, the TED Prize was introduced. Three individuals are each given $100,000 and granted a "wish to change the world" which they unveil at TED...The inaugural winners were Bono, Edward Burtynsky, and Robert Fischell. Bono's wish resulted in more than one million people signing up to join the ONE Campaign to eradicate poverty... Source: Wikipedia"

The real beauty of TED Talks today, is that you and me can listen and watch these great thinkers and doers from our little (or big) computer devices and be inspired by their stories, and that there are people still all around the world trying to save it (or make a difference) whether small or big.

I have to admit that TED Talks over the last two years has been my favorite video site. Although, you can access all the TED talks on YouTube, you know when you visit TED Talks you are getting value for your time. The problem with YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video and the rest, is that there is so much junk and fun there, which will from my own experience often distract us from the real juice. You know Ali G is going to take up your time, while you should be watching a documentary about Muhammad Ali. Worse yet, you get stuck up watching a Norwegian young dude eating chilli and find that amusing (What's the big deal, we in South-East Asia eat chilli 3-4 times a day!).

So, video sites like TED Talks are simply gems that we should dump in our favorites and continuously use to learn (Yes, we will also realize that we are not so great after all, and our macho egos will wake up to that reality!)

To get you started on the TED Talks learning journey, I will introduce you to a truly amazing and passionate professor from Sweden, the one and only Hans Rosling, who is a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. His current work focuses on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which (he points out) is no longer worlds away from the west. Not only should you watch his inspiring talk (below), but also you should explore his yummy free learning tool Gapminder (which brings data to life).

Coming to think of it, I wish all lecturers or Professors engaged us learners with such passion and flavour. I am sure all of us would be more inspired to learn. In short, Hans Rosling has the fire to inspire.

In terms of e-learning and content development, I believe much due to Roger Schank's inspiration and words of wisdom (his books), is that if you want this new generation of learners to be inspired to learn, try using real people, telling real stories in the real language. Forget about locking some audio reader in a studio, reading out a phoney case study (or any content) using dry language with no emotional juice. It simply bores today's young learners, who want the real deal with hands-on activities after (or during) the lecture (or why not a live online session, which could be done from anywhere in the world using web/video/tele- conferencing). Yes, they want to learn about the global super companies little secrets to success (Air-Asia, Shell, Toyota, Infosys, Google, etc.) from their actual founders or leaders. So, surely we should think twice before wasting money, time and talent on content development. In short, perhaps we should use some of these inspiring TED talks (5-25 minutes sessions, which is simply excellent to warm-up the lectures, discussions or tutorials) in our classes, wherever appropriate. Please, remember to download and run the videos on your computer device (and install the necessary plugins, if needed), because you do not want it to buffer for a few minutes (while downloading from the Internet) annoying the learners and stressing you out during your inspiring learning session.

Have fun learning ideas worth spreading :)

Secrets of the Super-Learners (Graig Lambert)

URL: http://bsc.harvard.edu/PDFs/superlearners.pdf (PDF.1.69 MB)

This article by Craig Lambert discusses some interesting secrets behind the mind of a super learner or what I like to call a potential or evolving genius. Also, to become a great teacher you must first learn the art of learning (or Learning how to learn, unlearn, relearn, etc.), and the more passion you have for learning (and welcome criticism) the more likely you will improve your ability to become a great educator.

So,what are the secrets of the super-learners (discussed in the article)?

• Wonder - I remember a friend of mine more than two decades ago used to joke "I am Stevie Wonder and I wonder where I am" (That might sound like an insult to a blind person, but that phrase some how has been lingering in my thoughts for decades, and perhaps there is a reason for it, or perhaps not.). However, the quality of always being curious and wanting to find out more about something is critical. In other words, one continues to ask Why?, How?, What?, Where?, When?, Which?, etc. trying the get a deeper understanding of something (e.g. Life and Death) . Interestingly, often when you think you got the answer, you realize that you haven't got it. What do you do? Give up, accept it as it is or continue searching for it?
• Humility - "One primary trouble with the American educational system is its concern with answers, as opposed to giving students questions", says C. Roland Christensen. Actually, we should not even give the students the questions, and instead facilitate them to figure out the questions themselves (and guide them if necessary). It might take a longer time (Time Vs Process), but to be a great learner (and teacher) you must master the art of asking questions (zooming in on the root cause, problem, or issue), because you surely do not want to answer correctly to the wrong question. Jorge Dominquez puts it nicely by saying, "the student who is a better learner will have a clearer sense of his or her own weaknesses." James Wilkinson goes on to say that "good learners know what it is that they don't know, and can ask questions about it." So, do you show humility and recognize that you are not always right? Or is your ego too big to be wrong? Actually, I should be asking these questions to myself.
• Synthetic Thinking - Super-learners aren't passive; they don't simply absorb information but actively reconstitute it into meaningful patterns. Professor Starch emphasizes that "Good learners see the difference between relevant information and irrelevant information". Yes, they are also good at distinguishing between facts and opinions, recognizing fallacies, and are good at analytical or critical thinking.
• Patience - Wilkinson argues that "there is a myth that good student have photographic memories and don't work hard...Actually they are quite hard-working, but don't feel that they have to understand everything the first time through...(do not give up until the AHA-moment). Allthough, there is nothing wrong in being impatient to learn, you just got to realize that you sometimes need to be patient to get it right (or reach a deeper level of understanding).
• Relishing Mistakes - "Good learners make lots of mistakes, just as poor learners do, but they learn from their mistakes." Have you ever heard the famous or infamous statement "The secret to my success is failure". Actually, if you have not failed during your studies, you simply have not tried hard enough (or "You have no guts!" in plain English). Coming to think of it, the word "Failure" is relative, and has only real meaning when we put a criteria to it. In other words, some might scream of joy for a B+ result, while others might want to jump of a building (Disaster!). However, what is important is that the thought of failure should not stop you from trying to reach your targets. As a great Malaysian Army General said recently, "Do it now!" (Which I find more stimulating than Nike's "Just Do It!").

Yes, this article is simply juicy, because it engages my mind to think deeper about what it takes to be a super learner. If we want to become a super teacher, we must first master the art of learning (or at least understand more about ourselves and how we learn). Also, our dear Schools, Colleges and Universities, must not see student failure as a burden, but an opportunity to help students to succeed. The key is not whether we fail or succeed during our studies, put how much effort and attitude we put into it. If the effort and right attitude is internalized into the students' mind (becomes a habit) during the learning process, he or she will eventually succeed (Trust me!). Hmm, again another funny word ("Succeed" or "Success"), where the criteria I suppose is continuously changing or adjusting (as we succeed). Interestingly, when we meet our initial target, it might feel like failure, because our targets have evolved.

So, are you a super-learner?

Let's end this post with Michelangelo's famous quote "I am still learning!" :)

What Good Teachers Say About Teaching (Berkeley)

Article: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/goodteachers/intro.html
A-Z Index (short essays): http://teaching.berkeley.edu/goodteachers/index.html

"At the University of California at Berkeley, the Distinguished Teaching Award was instituted in 1959 to recognize and reward excellence in teaching. Since the inception of the award, over 150 faculty in forty-eight departments have been honored...although these essays (by the award winners) were prepared independently over a number of years, there are striking similarities about what good teachers say about teaching. On at least ten propositions, the contributors are in near or total agreement:

1. The teacher's main task is to guide students through the learning process, not to dispense information.
2. The goal of teaching is to help students read, speak, write, and think critically—and to expect students to do these things.
3. Learning is a "messy" process, and the search for truth and knowledge is open-ended.
4. Good teachers love their subject matter.
5. Good research and good teaching go hand in hand. Students' engagement with the subject is enhanced by knowing about the teacher's own research, and the interaction with students often provides new insights into the research.
6. The best teachers genuinely respect students and their intellectual capabilities.
7. Good teachers are rarely satisfied with their teaching. They constantly evaluate and modify what they do.
8. Good teachers usually had good teachers, and they see themselves as passing on their own teachers' gifts to a new generation of students.
9. Good teachers treasure the small moments of discovery in the classroom and the more enduring effect they have on students' lives.
10. Good teachers do not see teaching as separate from other activities; rather, they see their lives as remarkably integrated."

"A professor can never better distinguish himself in his work than by encouraging a clever pupil, for the true discoverers are among them, as comets amongst the stars."
- Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778)

(originally published in 1994)

Although, this resource includes no multimedia courseware or videos, it is a great source of inspiration (nurturing our thinking mind) to any teacher that wants to learn the art of teaching. I ask myself now, do I have all these 10 qualities mentioned above? And my obvious answer is of course "NO" (If you say "YES" with real substance, I recommend that you become my guru virtually). Now, how do we achieve all these qualities (traits, behaviours, characteristics and habits) and become a truly inspiring teacher to our dear students?

Well, to inspire others, we need to be inspired ourselves first. In other words, the first quality we need before we can succeed with the rest, is to be passionate about with what we do. Without, passion the rest is simply wishful thinking. However, with our passion we can conquer the other 9 qualities (and more) over time, but to achieve that we also need to be proactive, humble, patient, analytical, open-minded (to criticism and constructive feedback), and a strong belief that we can be as good as anyone. And the irony is that we can't achieve it, unless we believe it. Finally, when we achieve such greatness, we won't realize it (Others will though), because the more we know and do, the more loopholes we will discover in our teaching (or areas that need improvement), thanks to our evolving knowledge and analytical thinking abilities. Actually, the moment we think we are great, we have lost that bit of greatness, and gone back to being good (Sound a bit like Jim Collins and his 'Good to Great' stuff).

Yes, anything is possible, especially if some other dude with flesh and blood has done it before. The real question is whether we are willing to struggle enough to achieve it. We could start by reading some of the wonderful stories or essays in the A-Z index (URL above), and then discuss whether we have what it takes, and how we are planning to achieve it (or how we do/did it). Are you willing to share your little secret recipes to great teaching here?

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” - William Arthur Ward

In short, do we have the fire to inspire :)

CourseLab (100% Free e-learning authoring tool?)

URL: http://courselab.com/
Download: http://courselab.com/db/cle/root_id/download/doc.html
Showcase Samples: http://courselab.com/db/cle/root_id/examples/doc.html

"CourseLab is a powerful, yet easy-to-use, e-learning authoring tool that offers programming-free WYSIWYG environment for creating high-quality interactive e-learning content which can be published on the Internet, Learning Management Systems (LMS), CD-ROMS and other devices...It can be used in a variety of learning initiatives including technical training, soft skills training and compliance certifications.

Here is a list of some its yummiest features (click here to see the full list):

• Familiar PowerPoint-like authoring environment;
• WYSIWYG environment for creating and managing high-quality interactive e-learning content - no HTML or other programming skills required;
• Unicode support - use any font and encoding supported by the Windows® operating system, including double-byte character sets;
• Object-oriented Model allows constructing e-learning content of almost any complexity just as easy as you put together the building blocks;
• Objects are highly customizable;
• Dynamic HTML based output can be played by most browsers - no Java® or other special player software required for playing created e-learning content;
• Built-in assessments and tests creation capabilities;
• Software Simulations - Embedded Screen Capturing mechanism (without using Adobe Flash® technology) (Costs $99);
• Import PowerPoint® presentations into the learning material (Costs $99).
• Additional module templates pack (Costs $9 Only)"

Having been away from researching learning technologies for more than one year, I am really thrilled with all the new free learning tools available to educators and learners. During this period of technology ignorance, I have been struggling learning the art of higher-order thinking skills and teaching (or coaching) it to students. Not sure if I have learnt that much, except for asking questions in a more systematic way using tools such as six thinking hats and CoRT.

CourseLab got me excited first (due to its easy-to-use authoring environment) and the super claim posted on its home page "100% FREE e-learning authoring tool! No time limits. No demo versions (What about no cost for Extras?)", provides the kind of happiness that can turn into frustration if you do not read between the lines.

However, when you realize that you need to fork out a whopping $198 (or 207) to get the really juicy features enabling you to do things that you really want to do (Check the bullets above in red). Although, CourseLab might argue it is not deception or against the law to state that the authoring tool is 100% , it could make it a bit more obvious that you need to pay if you really want to get the juicy stuff (Extras). They might argue that the authoring tool is free, but you need to pay for the Extras. Though, to me the extras is really the reason why I would be interested in using this tool in the first place. In short, the 'Extras' is the real deal. Also, one could argue that this is a great marketing strategy, but overall it is better to get people excited (about 100% free) without indirectly tricking them into it (otherwise they might give CourseLab negative publicity like now). We all know that a company needs money to survive, and that is understandable, but don't use misleading statements such as "100% FREE e-learning authoring tool", which is perhaps legally right, but in my opinion it is an unethical misusage of the original meaning of this phrase.

However, for those of you who do not find the CourseLab 'Extras' important or can survive without them, I do recommend using CourseLab. Though, if you are going to spend money, I would actually recommend that you add a bit more (a few hundred) and invest in either Adobe Captivate or Articulate :)

Note to CourseLab: I really like your authoring tool, and hopefully you could be more creative about your marketing catch phrase (get rid of the 100% nonsense), I would support and promote this product more. Yes, if you make the 'Extras' free and create sufficient revenue using another creative approach then you would have the education world at your feet.

Top 100 Tools For Learning

Top 100 Tools: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100.html
Top 10 Favourite Tools: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html
Zaid's Top 10 Tools: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/zaidalsagoff.html

The Learning Toolbox: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/toolbox.html

Summary (PDF): http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/downloads/top100tools.pdf

This TOP 100 list has been compiled from the TOP 10 FAVOURITE TOOLS lists of many (target +100) learning professionals (consultants, analysts, developers, practitioners, academics, etc) who responded to Jan Knight's open invitation. This list (together with the collection of Top 10 Tools list) is proving to be a popular resource to find out about the wide range of tools that can be used in a learning context - whether it be for personal learning or for creating learning for others - and demonstrates that e-learning is much much more than online courses.

Jane Knight (Learning Guru) and her team (I assume) has started a wonderful initiative (Simply Yummy), which can open our mind to what kind of tools that we can use to facilitate learning and why the learning experts chose them. Although, the top 100 list is certainly interesting (to basically know what tools are available and their ranking), I personally find it more stimulating and interesting to explore what the individual learning experts such as Stephen Downes, Jay Cross, and Clive Shepherd have chosen as their top 10 learning tools and importantly their straight-to-the-point justifications and reasons (Why?) for their selections. Also, you are recommended to check out the Learning Toolbox, which offers recommendations and suggestions for tools to use for different learning activities (It could save you from a lot of time-wasting on trial-and-error).

Thanks to Jane's brilliant initiative (and idea I assume) we can acquire some constructive feedback from learning experts on learning tools without requiring to invest any mega bucks. Now, that itself is simply a Yummy Idea (at least for us)! Not only that, if we want to participate with our top 10 learning tools list, we can by simply clicking here :)

Here is my top 15 learning tools list (including short Why's):

1. Internet Explorer (IE)
   Yes, Firefox is ranked number one on the Top 100 list. I have tried using Firefox for a few months early 2007, but I suppose I have gotten too used to IE and its "Favorites" management. I simply find it difficult quitting IE. I suppose after all these years using IE as my main browser to the knowledge galaxy it is difficult to let go. Though, I have both of them running on my PC, so I suppose sooner or later I will join the Firefox bandwagon (when it conquers IE in my mind).
2. Google Search
   Videos (including YouTube), Glossary, Scholar, Blogs, Groups, Anything underneath the sun (especially for general stuff), etc. Googling is part of our life today. I wish I had more time to visit the traditional library.
3. Moodle
   An Awesome course management system! The more you use it, the more you love it. Who said that open source is of no quality? It is simply an excellent tool to facilitate online learning (wikis, blogs, forums, chat, Instant Messaging, quizzes, polls, journals, database, e-books, basic content management, WYSIWYG editor, Item analysis, etc).
4. PowerPoint
   Although, some instructional designers might hate it, it is still the most widely used tool by educators to prepare their lecture/tutorial presentations (and also use as e-learning content). Why? It enables you to do amazing stuff without much effort or skills. Also, with plug-ins like Adobe Breeze and Articulate you are empowered to construct dynamic multimedia audio-based Flash-light presentations. The only sucker with this tool is that it is not free. Also, Apple dudes would probably argue that Apple's presentation software is better (Since I have not tried it, I cannot comment).
5. Word
   Although, we have online processors like Buzzword and GoogleDocs, I still prefer to do most of my writing using Microsoft Word. However, you never know in the future, as these online processors continue to evolve and the Internet becomes easier to access.
6. Google Reader
   Manages my RSS collection online. Since I discovered this tool I have given up on PC-based RSS tools. Now I can access my RSS collection on any computer device. Yummy!
7. Gmail
   Easy-to-use, storage galore, no folders, search, and NO annoying video-based advertisements, entertainment and news like Yahoo and MSN mail. We are there to read/write our e-mails, not view news and entertainment (Be more creative in creating revenue), which we can get elsewhere (Think speed and ease-of-use when it comes to e-mail). Sometimes, all-in-one frustrates! The only reason why Gmail is not ranked higher, is because I still use my office mail a lot.
8. Wikipedia
   Simply a massive wonderful disruptively fast growing learning resource (encyclopaedia), which you can find articles on basically everything. I suppose Answers.com is also worth mentioning, but without Wikipedia it would hardly be any answers in it.
9. del.icio.us
   Excellent social bookmarking site. Saves me time to find juicy stuff.
10. Blogger
    I suppose there are better blogging tools around, but I am kind of new to using blogs, so I will have to go with this one until I get a bit wiser.
11. Slideshare
    Can store my PowerPoint slides (and other formats) online easily. Also, it is a super site to visit to learn the art of crafting a presentation. When I first visited this resource, I realized I have a long way to go to create great presentation slides (with learning outcomes). In short, it is a wonderful place to explore and be inspired by amazing works of art that strike a point (impact and learning outcomes).
12. Google Notebook
    This is really an excellent research tool enabling you to browse, clip, and organize information from across the web in a single online location that's accessible from any computer.
13. Google News
    It enables you to search and browse more than 4,500 news sources updated continuously according to different countries and categories like Sports, Sci/Tech, World, etc. Besides checking the regular news sites, I use this tool regularly to keep myself updated with the latest developments around the world. The Global/Local (Glocal) News RSS!
14. Vivisimo Search
    Automated clustering (into folders) of search results (sometimes it clusters unexpected folders, helping me explore other dimensions of the original search).
15. FreeMind
    A free and simple-to-use mind mapping software. I suppose the commercial ones are better, but to me it provides sufficient features to create a simply mind map of whatever you want to mind map.

In short, learning tools that enable you to easily create, share, communicate, collaborate, discuss, analyze, evaluate, aggregate, synergize, and find stuff are juicy tools of today and the future :)