NEW: 2014 VERSION
CLICK HERE for the latest version, including the 3 BIG QUESTIONS.OLD VERSION
Let's 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 world's 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 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
- 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 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 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? ZaidLearn's 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 :)
40 comments:
What about OpenCourseWare!?!?!?!?
:)
(He says self-servingly)
Dear John,
Thanks for your great feedback!
If you look closely, you can see question 72 (might change later) which says: I want a free Repository and learning network of Open Educational Resources (OER)? OER Commons (http://www.oercommons.org/)
Which enable you to have access to most of the OpenCourseWare indirectly :)
But since you made a very important point, I have actually added another question specifically mentioning OpenCourseWare, which links you to OpenCourseWare Consortium (http://www.ocwconsortium.org/).
Thanks for the great question :)
Warm Regards,
Zaid
Great list! Find many more Web 2.0 apps on www.web20searchengine.com.
Zaid,
Thank you. Well done. We will include most of the tools you listed to the LeMill's tools section.
LeMill is a user managed "repository" of free and open learning content, learning methods and learning tools and we hope that you or other people will write descriptions of the tools in there and translate them to other languages.
- Teemu
Under #23 Web authoring tool alternative to FrontPage and Dreamweaver? NvU
I have long used Nvu, great software, yet they have not upgraded for ages, please do try Kompozer
Dear Teemu,
Thanks for your great feedback :)
I have added KompoZer (with NvU) to the list. Anyway, KompoZer is Nvu's unofficial bug-fix release, so I suppose they have a lot in common :)
All the best!
Zaid
Hi Zaid
This comment is really for you but came in on my post :-)
http://pdonaghy.edublogs.org/2008/04/12/free-tools-for-all-your-needs/#comments
Patricia
PS: Thanks for adding IE Directory!!
Dear Patricia,
Thanks for notifying me.
Yes, I can live with that comment :)
It is good to see that people are benefiting and enjoying the learning tool/resource list.
Warm Regards,
Zaid
As for the free software everyone should have, I think you guys are forgetting iSpring Free. I use it for a while now and I am very positive about it.
Dear Norma,
Thanks for the suggestion :)
I have also added it to the list (Currently, item 28).
The only real disaster (from my brief experiment!) with the free version is the compression output. The Flash version weighs ironically more than the actual PowerPoint (Did a test!).
Since they have a commercial upgrade, I suppose they have left out some of the important and useful juice. Otherwise, how are they going to sell the product!
If you want to compare the free and commercial versions more, go here: http://www.ispringsolutions.com/go_pro.html
Anyway, until I find a better alternative, I will include it :)
Thanks again :)
Zaid
This a a really great post! Thanks!
A very good list. I personally also advocate the use of free and legal software especially for countries of the Third World where acquisition of hardware is already difficult not to mention the software licensing. I am typing and posting from a laptop installed with Ubuntu.
http://educononline.com
Dear Amran,
Thanks for your feedback and thanks for sharing your site or blog (http://educononline.com). I am enjoying it, and have added it to my EduBloggers list: http://delicious.com/zaidlearn/Edublogs
I wish you the best of success with your work and new blog (since July). Hopefully, one day we can hook up for a learning discussion :)
Warm Regards,
Zaid
Thanks for your sharing!
You might want to check out this free math assignment authoring tool - Brain Power Math
http://www.brainpowermath.com
Hi,
You are giving the knowledge about Basel II to others.
It’s really very good
Keep it up........basel certification
This provides a comprehensive collection of ICT applications for e- learning, networking and knowledge sharing. It explore the idea that there is at least one excellent free learning tool for every learning problem.
-------------------------
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Hi Zaid
Just had a look at Mango (tool 138) and it isn't free. http://www.mangolanguages.com/main/features includes the pricing structure, so I don't think this should be on your list.
Cheers for compiling the list though!
Nigel
Dear Nigel,
Thanks for the 'Mango' feedback.I have updated that item, which is now:
Site to learn languages? Free Language (http://freelanguage.org/)
If you (or anyone else) have any better suggestions, please shoot me an e-mail.
In general, the list is getting old, and I suppose I will update it soon (properly) :)
Thanks again!
Warm Regards,
Zaid
If you're interested in innovative Web 2.0 learning tools, I invite you to check out Pixton - an award-winning website where you create comics without having to draw.
Pixton is a new kind of comic where you can design every aspect of your character, rotate all of the body parts and even turn it 360 degrees! The ability to create a 3-panel strip or a 12-row epic makes it a fun digital storytelling tool for all.
Language filters, privacy settings, and flagging mechanisms help preserve a safe online environment. We welcome you to try it and tell us what you think.
thanks,
Clive
Creator of Pixton - Interactive Web Comics
You have done an amazing job. Thank You. Best collection I have seen in a while.
-Ma'assalaam
btw add engrade.com its a real nice grading system
Those are very good tools, however, in many cases those platforms are used just to allow the team to review the same document together in real-time and "be on the same page".
The recently launched free site http://www.showdocument.com does exactly that, easy document sharing and web meeting friends and colleagues.
It allows co-browsing on any document, user uploads a document and invites friends to view it with him live
All the participants in the session see each others' drawing, highlights, etc.
Josh
that is a very long list thanks. My Blog : earn money chao!
Great post!!
www.mathiverse.com/forum
Like a breath of fresh air. Thanks
I suppose they have left out some of the important and useful juice. Otherwise, how are they going to sell the product!
Dissertation Writing | Thesis Writing | report writing
The ability to create a 3-panel strip or a 12-row epic makes it a fun digital storytelling tool for all.
Research Paper Writing | Assignment Writing
Excellent blog for learning! I know of a great website which promotes classroom management. This site gives tips to teachers on the amazingly simple methods of gaining class control, building relationships with difficult pupils and de-escalation strategies.
elearning tools should be the things that you look up first
Hi Zaid! I'm a student from IMU. Was amazed by your effort and knowledge of e-learning! By the way, is e-learning portal created and managed by your team? I found that the e-learning portal is very useful and it stimulates my interest in study. I enjoy doing the quiz. However, it will be more meaningful if all the lecturers utilize this portal. =)
Dear Jo-Yee,
Thanks for your positive feedback :)
Yes, our small team is managing the e-learning portal (which is based on Moodle).
The top management is emphasizing more on e-learning now, and I believe within the next 12 months you will see most lectures adopting and using e-learning as a tool to facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Just be a bit patient, and things will happen :)
Cheers!
Zaid, great to hear that! I am looking forward to it! =D
Another good, free math tool is Softmath's Algebra Solver where you can type in (almost) any math problem and have it solved.
What sets it apart from similar solvers is the fact that as you type the problem in, it appears in a "two-dimensional" book notation (so you are much less likely to make errors when entering an expression). Check it out!
Full disclosure: I am the developer of this math widget, and would really like to see it being used by students in need ;-)
www.attanolearn.com is an amazing site which provides educational videos mapped to school curriculum's. Tough focused on Indian school curriculum's for now, it would soon be offering video tutorials mapped to major U.S based school curriculum's.
This is an Amazing list of useful tools. I saw quite a few that I could use on my daily work. I did not check everything just yet but will do soon. When it comes to free all is welcome even learning a language is better when is free. I appreciate you hard work.
cool style...
excellent list love to c my students utilizing it
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