Top 10 learning tools for 2009

Jane Hart, a social learning consultant, compiles an annual list of popular learning technologies, as voted for by other learning professionals. The top 100 tools for 2008 can be found here. My own top 10 for 2009 (below) is slightly embarrassing because of the emphasis on Google products.  I have in fact made some use of the Zoho suite of applications, but there is a terrific level of convenience in having iGoogle set up as my web page, with the other Google products embedded within, many of which synchronise with my phone (an HTC Magic). I can hardly believe that GMail has been squeezed out of my top 10, not to mention YouTube (to which I sometimes upload screencasts that are recorded in Screentoaster), or Google Sites.

1. Blogger. My final year students have each set up blogs where they regularly record their thoughts about the material we cover. I also use blogger to record occasional research updates that might be of interest to readers of my textbook, and with a view to incorporating these into a future edition. 
2. Google search.
3. Google calendar. This is particularly useful because it synchs with my Google Android phone and sends reminders to my phone.
4. Screentoaster.
5. Google Docs.
6. Googer Reader.
7. iGoogle. This is an excellent way of organising your desktop.
8. Twitter.
9. Google Android.
10. MacBook Air - this is about half the weight of the regular laptops I have previously had and offers the speed of operation that Apple products have become known for. Particularly useful is the facility to record screencasts that is built into the operating system. This could possibly challenge my use of Screentoaster, which I have mostly used up until now.