By running, and subsequently publishing the findings of the top ten tools, people can stop and think about what they use, and they can see what other academics may use and can adapt.It helps to identify areas of innovation and good practice, and encourages others.Started out after looking at Jane Hart’s top 100 tools – each year, she asks readers for their top ten tools and arranges them into the top 100. www.c4lpt.co.uk
Emailed elearning champions asking for their top ten tools. Or as many as they had if they didn’t have any.Collated the results and ranked them in a spreadsheet – 10 for first, 9 for second etc.Pros: Gives an overview of several different toolsGives a taste of what is being used within the UniversityCons:Results slightly skewed as all were e-learning champions (example: moodle)Not a representative sample; what would results be like otherwise?Timing – many academics were still marking at the time, and wouldn’t have replied to email.
Accurate:Sample wasn’t representativeSome people didn’t think of Office as tools, of the VLE as a toolSome things cropped up regularly, indicating wide useSome generalised eg. Blogging instead of wordpress or blogger etc.New Additions to the list:Twitter has gained in popularityMind Mapping