Finding tools

Do I need to search?

There are countless Web 2.0 applications available online and, of course, there is no single repository that lists such applications. They can be easy to find, in general terms, and much harder to find when searching for something specific. One of the reasons for building this website was to provide ready access to the listed applications and their useful alternatives. The 100 or more applications referred to in this site will, for many educators, be more than sufficient as a starting place. When you do search, you will find that many applications are – despite appearances – not very useful; others will be ‘dead’. Finding tools is more than just finding where they are…

However, this site will date over time, despite the update blog that will add applications and services from time to time, and it is important therefore to have some idea of where to look to find more and new tools. Furthermore, not everything of value and interest could be included and it is important for academics to become astute consumers of available knowledge networking applications not only for teaching but also for their own practice.

The following sites are very good places to start (and were used in building the Learning in Knowledge Networks tool selection):

Web 2.0 application listings

http://go2web20.net
3500+ applications, dating back several years with a slightly awkward interface. Updated quite regularly, principally by the developers of various web 2.0 services putting their application links here to market them. Can be followed on twitter and has RSS feed. Searchable by ‘tags’, but the tags are not often that accurate. <em>Most</em> of the applications used in this site were sourced from go2web20.net.

http://www.neobinaries.com
around 1000 applications listed here, perhaps a more considered list that some others, but generally similar – somewhat easier to sort and has ratings (user generated) for various applications. Provides a good cross-check with the more extensive sites.

http://www.feedmyapp.com/
The most comprehensive – 12000 applications listed, with new ones added regularly. A detailed analysis of the text used to describe all 12000 applications is currently being undertaken – you can use the site to browse for many different categories and date-stamps of applications. Has thumbnail screen shots of the websites; irritatingly you have to click through to another feedmyapp page for each application.

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/index.html
An excellent education-specific listing, with over 2000 entries (heavily categorised for ease of use). One sees the challenge, however: with so many applications to review, this listing – despite its categories – is effectively just another list. In the next section I provide some pointers to more specific ‘best of’ lists for educators.

Education-specific ‘best’ lists

The Internet abounds with ‘best of’ lists and the following examples provide a useful way into Web 2.0 applications for teachers.

The Edudemic website lists 35 best tools, from 2010 (Edudemic “is a 7,000+ person global community designed to keep educators, administrators, and everyone up-to-date on what’s happening in the world of education and technology”).

Educator and commentator Larry Ferlazzo has an excellent annual ‘top’ list (2010, others accessible from the page). Another commentator uses the hubpages service to provide his list: http://hubpages.com/hub/Education20.

The commercial site, Discovery Education, has a useful listing of free Web 2.0 applications as well as links to its own products.