Britt is the online learning specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Teaching Excellence in Richmond VA.

Britt's Top 10 Tools as at 5 May 2009

Britt writes: "My fourth update in three years....and I continue to value the service you provide with this list.  In my online graduate class on Educational Technology and School Leadership, we start the course with my students each taking a tool from your Top 100 and individually researching their tool, then developing a presentation for their fellow classmates in our class wiki.  Most quickly learn Jing to do their presentation on their tool.  Many consider this the most fun part of the class!"

1. Delicious – Still number one after 3 years of use. Delicious is indispensable to my work and teaching. I bounce between it and Twitter as my primary search engines. My delicious network feeds directly to my RSS reader so that I stay connected to the websites that my network finds interesting (as do they to mine). I used it successfully as a class communications/connections tool with my graduate students.

2. Twitter – With my growing network of colleagues, I find Twitter is my first source of breaking news and fresh ideas. It is amazing what you can learn from 140 characters. It also gives one the ability to break out of the “ed tech” realm and find new sources for information and knowledge.

3. Google Reader - The ability to have web material pulled into one location for review continues to make this a valuable tool. I routinely follow fifty blogs, another dozen technology feeds, and my delicious network tags through my reader.

4. WordPress - I am a member of Edublogs and find the WordPress tool easy to use and adaptable. Despite this list, tools are not what are important – it is the conversations they allow. Blogging, coupled with Twitter, Delicious and Google Reader have become the main components of my own Personal Learning Environment, connecting me with the other conversations occurring on the web.

5. Jing - I still like the ability to develop a screencast so that I can personalize and explain my own perspective in a process that engages students. I still use Camtasia but increasingly love the ease with which Jing allows you to deliver quick screencasts asynchronously to my online learners. More importantly, my students have picked it up and now use Jing as their primary presentation tool.

6. WetPaint - Collaboration is a critical job skill and wikis facilitate this online. I like the ease with which one can set up and customize a WetPaint wiki. I have used this for collaboration as well as a replacement for paper handouts.

7. Slideshare - As with other social networking sites, SlideShare has opened up the collaborative sharing of presentations. The coupling of presentations with tagging and Creative Commons leads to creative use of shows worldwide for learning.

8. YouTube - YouTube does for video what SlideShare does for presentations. There are excellent video clips online with enhance classes and training, and I love the ability to embed videos into blogs, wikis, or learning management systems.

9. Flickr - I have always loved Flickr for sharing photographs, but find the advanced search option of only displaying Creative Commons licensed photos very helpful in creating material for my blog or classes.

10. Skype – As an “old-school” online teacher, I have predominantly been asynchronous in my teaching. However, I love the ability to connect synchronously with colleagues and students for online discussions. I generally use Skype but like how some of the other web conferencing tools are progressing. Watch for changes here!

Britt's Top 10 Tools as at 7 August 2008

1. Delicious - After 2 years of use, delicious has become indispensable.  It is now my default homepage and search engine on the three computers I routinely use.  My network feeds directly to my RSS reader so that I stay connected to the websites they find interesting (as do they to mine).  I used it successfully as a class communications/connections tool with my graduate students.  Delicious 2.0 has just been released and has added functionality that I like.

2. Google Reader - The ability to have web material pulled into one location for review has made this my second must-have tool.  I routinely follow fifty blogs, another dozen technology feeds, and my delicious network tags through my reader.

3. WordPress - I am a member of Edublogs and find the WordPress tool easy to use and adaptable.  Blogging, delicious and Google Reader have become the three main components of my Personal Learning Environment.

4. Twitter - It took me awhile to get Twitter, but once I built a network of colleagues, I found Twitter was my first source of breaking news and fresh ideas.  It is amazing what you can learn from 140 characters.

5. Camtasia - While still somewhat Web 1.0-ish, I still like the ability to develop a screencast so that I can personalize and explain my own perspective in a process that engages students.   In online learning with so much delivered asynchronously, screencasts  allow some of my personality to surface

6. Wikispaces - Collaboration is a critical job skill and new tools like wikispaces allows one to model and develop this skill online.

7. Google Docs - Another excellent collaboration tool.  I also like the options of documents, spreadsheet or presentation.  And the presentation tool has a nice chat feature built in.

8. Slideshare - As with other social networking sites, SlideShare has opened up the collaborative sharing of presentations.  The coupling of presentations with tagging and Creative Commons leads to creative use of shows worldwide for learning

9. YouTube - YouTube does for video what SlideShare does for presentations.  There are excellent video clips online with enhance classes and training, and I love the ability to embed videos into blogs, wikis, or learning management systems. 

10. Flickr - I have always loved Flickr for sharing photographs, but find the advanced search option of only displaying Creative Commons licensed photos very helpful in creating material for my blog or classes.

Britt's Top 10 Tools as at 9 January 2008

1. del.icio.us - After a year of use, delicious has become indispensable.  It is now my default homepage and search engine on the three computers I routinely use.  My network feeds directly to my RSS reader so that I stay connected to the websites they find interesting (as do they to mine).  I used it successfully as a class communications/connections tool with my graduate students.

2. Google Reader - The ability to have web material pulled into one location for review has made this my second must-have tool.  I routinely follow a dozen blogs, another dozen technology feeds, and my delicious network’s tags through my reader.

3. PowerPoint - I continue to use PowerPoint to add a visual touch to my online classes, but the real power lies in coupling PowerPoint with other tools such as SlideShare or Camtasia, adding narrative to the slide deck.

4. Audacity - Audacity gave the PC community similar capabilities to Mac's GarageBand at no cost.   I like having the ability to review and edit audio before I package it for podcasting

5. Camtasia - While still somewhat Web 1.0-ish, I still like the ability to develop a screencast so that I can personalize and explain my own perspective in a process that engages students.   In online learning with so much delivered asynchronously, screencasts  allow some of my personality to surface

6. Wikispaces - Collaboration is a critical job skill and new tools like wikispaces allows one to model and develop this skill online.

7. Ning - Anyone can develop social network sites through Ning, and these have expanded my “friends” worldwide, with College 2.0 one in which I spend the most time.  New uses are being explored, such as Jeff Utecht’s use of Ning for the Learning 2.0 conference website.

8. Slideshare - As with other social networking sites, SlideShare has opened up the collaborative sharing of presentations.  The coupling of presentations with tagging and Creative Commons leads to creative use of shows worldwide for learning

9. YouTube - YouTube does for video what SlideShare does for presentations.  There are excellent video clips online with enhance classes and training, and I love the ability to embed videos into blogs, wikis, or learning management systems. 

10. Blackboard - I am not necessarily tied to any one Learning Management System, but have used Blackboard for six years.  The ability to provide an engaging and customized learning environment that connects teacher, students, and content continues to be extremely powerful

Britt's Top 10 Tools as at 11 August 2007

1. Blackboard - I am not necessarily tied to any one Learning Management System, but have used Blackboard for five years.  The ability to provide an engaging and customized learning environment that connects teacher, students, and content is extremely powerful

2. del.icio.us - I am relatively new to social bookmarking and will be using it in my graduate classes for the first time this fall, but I am amazed at the connections it has produced for me in my first 6 months of use.  It is very empowering and I see huge potential when students begin sharing resources and learning

3. PowerPoint - was using Harvard Graphics before PowerPoint was developed, so I have always used visuals in my teaching.   They add an important component to the online learning community.

4. Google Search - Helping students learn how to search the web and differentiate between data and knowledge is critical.  The array of Google Tools (Google Scholar, Google Maps, etc.) gives students capabilities we never had.  Couple this with del.icio.us for collaboration and you have a tremendous learning resource

5. Wikispaces - Collaboration is a critical job skill, and new tools like wikispaces allows one to model and develop this skill online.  Wikipediamade my top 12, so I note it here as well.

6. iTunes - Audio has been a component of many online learning spaces, but iTunes has greatly simplified the process by which professors can provide audio (and now   video) content for offline review

7. Audacity - Educational content delivery is greatly simplified when one does not have to worry about the receiver's ability to open it.   With .pdf, I know that students will be viewing my files precisely the way I want the content viewed

8. Adobe Reader - Educational content delivery is greatly simplified when one does not have to worry about the receiver's ability to open it.   With .pdf, I know that students will be viewing my files precisely the way I want the content viewed

9. Camtasia - While still somewhat Web 1.0-ish, I still like the ability to develop a screencast so
   that I can personalize and explain my own perspective in a process that engages students.   In online learning with so much delivered asynchronously, screencasts  allow some of my personality to surface

10. Wimba Live Classroom  -  I have used both Elluminateand Live Classroom, and each has advantages and disadvantages.   I really like the ability to engage students synchronously in a medium where they can be relaxed and themselves...and not get cramped fingers from typing.  By incorporating powerpoints, polling, and application sharing, I can work with students spread over several states and continue to build community.  It is also a great collaboration tool for students to use without me.