Jane Hart: 10 New Tools that made the list – all over the map for me

I heart Jane Hart; the work she does makes my life so much easier.  Her site is usually the first place I go when looking for a tool.  She recently announced 10 new tools that made the list for top 100 in 2009, and I feel inspired to comment.

Prezi – I’ve seen this used and it was AWESOME, and I’ve seen it used it gave me motion sickness.  The old adage is true: it’s not the tool, it’s how you use it.

Evernote – just learned about this from @currie. Love the concept: easily capture info in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes it accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. I’ve tried it. So far, I don’t think I get it.

DimDim – shocked. no, really.  I.  am. shocked.   All my experiences with DimDim to date have been uber disappointing. And we (me and my team at Royal Roads) really tried to make it work for us. It just didn’t. So now we’re Elluminators.

Etherpad – LOVE this. use it all the time in conjunction with skype, elluminate, phone or whatever to collaboratively write things on the fly. I wish Elluminate had an Etherpad plug-in. That would rule.

udutu – on my list of things to check out.

Screenr – I really really really must try this

Posterous – sounds like a good idea for the new blogger. I don’t want to just “email it in”, though. The less emailing, the better. Giving it a pass for now.

Yammer – again, I’m surprised this made the list. Again, we tried it in my team and it was kind of…meh. Totally didn’t catch on. Why wouldn’t you use Twitter instead? We’re heavy Windows Messenger users, too, and typically just update our personal message window. So maybe that’s why.

Wordle – ah, Wordle….who doesn’t love Wordle? It’s like taking your work and making it seem like a big, fat, colourful, meaningful poem. Fun.

Flip – neat. loads of potential.  Though right now I’m trying to justify the cost of a blackberry, so this one will have to wait.

6 thoughts on “Jane Hart: 10 New Tools that made the list – all over the map for me

  1. suifaijohnmak

    Tracy,
    That’s interesting. I feel the same for Prezi, motion sickness, and I couldn’t concentrate. It sounds “fad” though and I doubt its use for “professional presentation” especially for the boards of director. May be good for the “innovators”
    Posterous – same as blogs, not much….
    Wordle – just for fun for me. Not in depth though.
    It seems that we have met in some elluminate online sessions, wasn’t it with Jay? Nor sure?
    Will check on others.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Cheers.

    Reply
  2. idwad Post author

    I am so happy and interested to hear what tools other people use and what they think – there are so many out there I depend on others’ reviews to help me wade through them all!

    I don’t remember an elluminate session with Jay – I think you’re in cck09 though right? I’ve attended almost all of those lately, so maybe that was it.

    I think you’re right re: prezi. If you’re a skilled mind-mapper and can flow easily between concepts vs. sticking to a sequential presentation, i can see it working better than ppt (like you know how sometimes someone asks a question and you know you’re getting there 4 slides ahead, so you flip ahead and then flip back – if you had it laid out in prezi it could just look like you were heading there next)

    what do you use for reading rss feeds? are you a “reader” person? or a “start page” person?

    Reply
  3. suifaijohnmak

    I use Google Reader, but I also tried the RSS feed (for email). I am both a reader and rambler, so I like to wander around at times. But I also network via FB, Twitter, Nings (http://connectivismeducationlearning.ning.com is one I created, if you are interested to join, you are very welcomed) wikis and many others like …
    Cheers.

    Do you join other networks too? Anything special or exciting with those neworks? What make you join?

    Reply
  4. Jane Hart

    Tracy, just a quick note to say that these 10 tools are taken from those NEW on the Top 100 tools for Learning 2009 – as voted for by learning professionals worldwide. They are not ordered – but just provide some ideas for workplace learning professionals who might be looking for something different. (Noevertheless interested in your comments on Dimdim – I’ve always had good experiences of it). BTW it’s not too late to contribute your own Top 10 tools – http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/yours.html – the closing date is 15 November – and then I will finalise the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009.

    Reply
    1. idwad Post author

      Thanks Jane – I’ve tweaked this post to reflect your comments. Really looking forward to the new list(s) – as mentioned, I’m a *huge*, grateful fan of what you do! And thanks for the nudge to submit my own, I think I will…

      Reply

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