Jane Hart over at the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies has compiled some great lists for e-learning tools. The lists are geared more toward educators, but I think a decent majority of the items are relevant for students as well, especially grad students who spend their days walking that line between penniless student and underpaid educator.

There’s the Top 25 Free Tools List, which is awesome for its no-charge-ness:

1. Firefox plus extensions—web browser
2. delicious—social bookmarking tool
3. Google Reader—rss reader
4. Gmail–webmail
5. Skype—instant messenger
6. Google Calendar—online calendar
7. Google Docs—online office suite
8. Slideshare—presentation sharing tool
9. flickr—image hosting and sharing tool
10. Voicethread—collaborative slideshow tool
11. Wordpress—blogging tool
12. Audacity—audio/podcasting tool
13. YouTube—video hosting and sharing tool
14. Jing—screencasting tool
15. PBwiki—wiki tool
16. PollDaddy—polling tool
17. Nvu—web authoring tool
18. Yugma—web meeting tool
19. Ustream—live broadcasting tool
20. Ning—(private) social networking tool
21. Freemind—mind mapping tool
22. Moodle—course management system
23. eXe—course authoring tool
24. iGoogle—personal start page tool
25. twitter—microblogging tool

And there’s the slide show below of the Top 100 Tools For Learning 2008:

Posted by Alexa Harrington

Online learning is already a pretty flexible education option, but now students in Louisiana have an even bendier education alternative via mobile devices. This is a prime example of necessity being the mother of invention: The state of Louisiana has a workforce shortage of 90,000 and the job openings require some education and training. Unfortunately, the potential workers who could go to school and absorb the necessary knowledge are all already working in less-skilled, lower-paying jobs and have little or no extra time for on-site or even online courses.

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) has partnered with Pearson Custom Solutions to create a customized online learning program for use on mobile devices, i.e., the AT&T Blackberry Curve. Courses will be facilitated by the Pearson company eCollege. The hope is that the combination of print, digital and online coursework will make education a viable option for Louisianians.

“We believe the ability to do some of their course work through the cell phone will be a major draw for individuals,” said Dr. May. “Presently, of the 4.2 million individuals that make up our state’s population, 25% have Internet access while 68% have cell phones. That means there are a large number of individuals to whom we can offer an opportunity to take courses, earn a degree, and have better quality of life in a more convenient way. We are very pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to our citizens. ”

While I think it’s a little creepy that the courses designed for mobile devices require the student to use a specific brand of cell phone, I still applaud the fact that the program as a whole isn’t a frivolous use of technology.

Further Reading:

Groundbreaking Mobile Learning Program Will Train For Louisiana’s 90,000 Job Vacancies

Posted by Alexa Harrington