Mijn favoriete leertechnologieën (editie 2020) @C4LPT

Traditiegetrouw -voor de veertiende keer namelijk al- publiceert Jane Hart eind september de Top 200  Tools for Learning.  Ik verwacht dit jaar een grote verschuiving. Tot vrijdag 11 september 2020 kun je jouw top 10 inzenden. Deze blogpost bevat mijn top 10.

Leertechnologieën zijn technologieën die speciaal voor leren, opleiden en onderwijs zijn ontwikkeld of om tools die voor een ander doel zijn ontwikkeld, maar wel voor leerdoeleinden worden gebruikt.

Jane hanteert drie categorieën:

• Categorie 1: tools voor persoonlijk en professioneel leren
• Categorie 2: Tools voor werkplek leren
• Categorie 3: Tools voor onderwijs en opleiden.

Ik verwacht vooral een verschuiving ten gunste van tools voor synchroon, online, leren en ten koste van tools die gebruikt worden tijdens bijeenkomsten. Tools als Zoom en Microsoft Teams worden, in vergelijking met eerdere jaren, in 2020 veel intensiever gebruikt. Zowel voor het samen werken aan projecten en leren van collega’s (categorie 2) als voor virtual classrooms en webinars (categorie 3).

Uiteraard moet je vooral goed nadenken over je ontwerp en je didactiek. Maar je zult volledig online leren en blended learning op een gegeven moment ook keuzes moeten maken wat betreft leertechnologieën. Het overzicht van Jane is dan informatief en bruikbaar.

On behalf of Jane, I will proceed in English.

Please note:

• I don’t use every application for the purpose of learning. You can learn from your work, but working is not always learning. Learning is a cognitive and social process in which feedback and reflection are important. That is not always the case when you are using tools.
• Applications I use most intensively, are not always my favorite applications. You often have to accept tools that an organization offers to you. For virtual classroom sessions, I usually use applications available by the organisation that asks me to provide a virtual classroom session.

Here are my favorite tools of 2020:

1. WordPress (Category 1)
   Since several years on number 1. I use WordPress to blog. My weblog is my most important learning tool. I blog to process what I see and read, to reflect, to share knowledge and as an archive. My blogposts are thoughts under construction. I started to blog with Typepad. I use WordPress since December 2011. Most of the feedback I receive via LinkedIn, nowadays.
2. Inoreader (Category 1)
   When Google stopped the provision of Google Reader, I experimented with several alternative RSS readers. Soon, Inoreader became my new gateway to a large amount of weblogs. Five years ago I added some Twitter-lists to this feed reader. I use Inoreader of my iPhone, iPad and MacBook. It is easy to organise and share items or save items in Pocket. Therefore Inoreader is crucial for curating information. However, curating is only a first step in learning. You need process the information, if you really want to learn (e.g. understand, apply and create).
3. Pocket (Category 1)
   I use Pocket to save blogposts and online articles. I read them on my iPhone, iPad an Macbook (often input for blog posts). I also have the opportunity to tweet, mail or save them to Diigo or Evernote.
4. Keynote (Category 1, 2 and 3)
   I use the Apple’s presentation for virtual classrooms, webinars, keynotes, presentations (e.g. in projects) and introductions in workshops (since March 2020 especially for webinars and virtual classrooms; I have to export the presentation to PDF if I want to share it with learners). In addition, producing presentations in Keynote fosters re-structuring my thoughts. Therefore, Keynote is also a tool for personal and professional learning.
5. BlueJeans (Category 2)
   Many people will mention Zoom or MS Teams as their favorite tool for live online collaboration. However, I prefer definitely BlueJeans for this purpose. I use BlueJeans especially for collaboration on a distance (the application has limitations from the perspective of a webinar or virtual classroom). BlueJeans is easy to use because people you invite, have only to use their browser to collaborate synchronously. The quality of audio and video is very good, although some individuals report issues concering sound. You can chat, share screens, use a whiteboard and work in break-out rooms. Again: you don’t learn from every online meeting.
6. Vitero Inspire (category 2 and 3)
   This is not the application I use the most frequent for virtual classroom sessions, because organisations that I work with use different tools for these learning activities. But it is definitely my favorite tool for virtual classrooms. Learners only need a brwoser. It has a lot of functionalities for interaction, much more than other tools for live, online, learning.  You can use a presentation while learners are in sight and you are able to use different functionalities at the same time. Is this remarkeble? Try the same in Zoom or MS Teams (as a guest lecturer) and you know what I mean…(fortunately applications like BlackBoard Collaborate and Adobe Connect also enable you to use a presentation without ‘leaving’ the ‘room’).
7. Mentimeter (Category 2 and 3)
   I use Mentimeter (pro-version) during virtual classsroom sessions, webinars, workshops and presentations for activating previous knowledge, to identify beliefs or opinions, or to start discussions. Very easy to use. Mentimeter has different types of questions, and it enables you reuse events. It can be used with large groups as well. The free version has serious limitations.
8. Deeplr (Category 1).
   A really great translator. Not as many languages as Google Translator. But I am more satisfied about the translations.
9. Moodle (Category 3).
   I use Moodle as a teacher for more than ten years now. Because the course, that I work for,  uses Moodle. I do use other learning management systems as well.  In 2020 I  used Brightspace and ofcourse yOUlearn an the Open University in the Netherlands (based on Liferay). The reason is that I mention Moodle as an example of an LMS/VLE is that a lot of people declared that the LMS/VLE is dead. This declaration is more than 10 years old. However, the LMS/VLE is like Mark Twain.  The report of its death is an exaggeration. Moodle has been in existence for many years and is still the most widely used digital learning environment. It is a bit like a Swiss army knife with attractive functionalities and a lot of configuration possibilities. That is a strength and a pitfall as well.
10. Padlet
    Back in my top 10. Padlet is an easy to use digital corkboard. You can use it to activate prior knowledge, for brainwriting or to share ideas of participants. You can save and share the outcomes. There are different options for privacy settings. Learners don’t need an account. The free version has limitations, related to the number of Padlets you can use.

De eerste twee edities van de top 10 heb ik bij Jane Hart gepubliceerd, en zijn helaas niet meer online te vinden. Zie wel:

• Een bericht over de editie 2008
• Editie 2010
• Editie 2011
• Editie 2012
• Editie 2015
• Editie 2016
• Mijn favoriete leertechnologieën van 2018 @C4LPT
• Editie 2019

Stem ook op jouw top 10.