Michael Hanley is a learning
consultant based in Dublin, Ireland. He specialises in
e-learning content development and delivery for
knowledge workers. He is particularly interested in the
role of learning in enhancing organizational
performance. At the moment he is investigating how
non-formal learning initiatives enable workers to
achieve organisational goals. His blog is atThe
E-Learning Curve
Michael's Top 10 Tools as at
25 March 2008
Audacity - I recommend this open source tools to subject
matter experts who wish to create podcasts and / or software
demos when using a Rapid E-Learning approach. It's easy to
install and use and enables SMEs and training professionals
to create high quality audio quickly and efficiently.
Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise - I could have picked
any from the range of Adobe Flash-based content development
tools, but I chose this application because of it's
multifunctionality, and because it manifests what Flash,
Presenter, Dreamweaver etc can do. Enables collaboration,
content storage, management, distribution, and (a certain
degree of) tracking. A powerful platform to enable learning
professionals and organisations to distribute informational
and training content effectively.
Adobe Captivate - A SERIOUS authoring tool for demos
simulations, evaluation, and scenarios-based learning
Blogs
- The platform doesn't matter, but the concept of providing
a means to create, share, and deliver content is the basis
for a new way of learning.
Del.icio.us - Personal bookmarking at its best. If, like
me you work on a number of machines in a number of
locations, it is useful to access stored links and documents
from a browser regardless of where you happen to be, once
you have an internet connection.
MindJet Mind Manager Pro - I built the framework for my
Master's thesis in Mind Manager. A powerful intermediary in
developing ideas, concepts, and course design.
Moodle
- Already an institution in institutions! Martin Dougimas's
erstwhile thesis project continues to meet the learning
management requirements of any number and type of
organisation. I just love the idea of framing Social
Constructivism in such an useful environment.
PageRank - A technology that has its critics, but
provides us with the ability to carry out a search in
Google, MSN, Yahoo! etc safe in the knowledge that the
returned results are not just an undifferentiated list of
keyword hits, thus enhancing the relevance of the search.
Sony
Vegas Video - Easier to use than Premiere, more powerful
than MovieMaker; Vegas is my post-production "weapon of
choice" for 90% of the video elements that appears in
courseware developed in my organisation. Whether you're just
"topping and tailing" a piece of video or creating the
elements for a sophisticated soft skills course, Vegas is a
must.
TextPad
- I would have chosen pen and paper, but decided to keep
this list digital; TextPad is an advanced text editor that
enables users to create and edit text documents, XML,
JavaScript and other interpreted content without the
extraneous "bloat" of word-processing applications. I find
it useful to develop content in this stripped-down
environment before transferring to Word, PowerPoint, Blogger
or some other application for final enhancement and
publishing (this list was created in TextPad, for example).
What are your
Top 10 Tools for learning? Let us know and help us to build
the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008
