The battle of the tools

Sep 21 2008

Posted at 5:50 pm under web 2.0

I have been putting together a wiki for my upcoming pre-conference workshop and have been revisiting some tools that I have played with in the past as well as brushing up on the tools that I use reguarly. What I am finding is that I have become a little confused at the amount of choice that has opened up. This is nothing new in the internet world of infowhelm but I am now beginning to question things I’ve always just taken for granted.

For instance, I am a big Flickr fan. I have been advocating the use of Flickr for a long time now. Flickr has its groups, map, add note feature and direct relationship with Picnik for editing. I am still a fan but its supremacy is being erroded by some of the other tools I have played with in the last couple of days. PhotoBucket, for instance, has really grown since I last checked it out. The interface is easier to get around and you can now upload videos and it has a direct link to Scrapblog meaning you can make these from within PhotoBucket itself. Then there is DotPhoto which I hadn’t heard of before but found on the Top 10 Reviews website where it had been given gold with specific mention of the great photoshows that you can make with it.

This is just one example of the kind of exploring that I have been doing recently. All of which means that I am now getting a little bamboozled. So many options and they all have features that set them apart from each other while still having the same key functions. I don’t want to be uploading images to multiple places on the web but I don’t want to miss out on great features either. How are the rest of you out there finding the range of web 2.0 tools on offer? Are you coping?

In the meantime, here are the tools that I have documented for the workshop so far. I plan to add an extra couple in the next week or so to the wiki page.

	Utterli		Google Maps
	Authorstream		Voicethread
	Zoho Creator		Picnik/ Fotoflexor
	Glogster/ Wix		Scribd
	Poll Daddy		Slide/ Picture Trail
	Tabblo		MyStudiyo

	280 Slides		ClustrMaps
	Flickr/ Dotphoto		Google Calendar
	Wordle		CircaVie
	YouTube/ Teacher Tube		Voki
	Bubbl.us		Mixwit
	Animoto		Vodpod

I would love any feedback or suggestions on where to source further examples of tools. Have I missed any that should definitely be there? I am planning to add Photobucket, Bubbleshare and Scrapblog.

Tags: web2

5 responses so far

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5 Responses to “The battle of the tools”

Frank's Blogon 21 Sep 2008 at 6:56 pm 1

Wow, that is pretty wide coverage. Do you plan to focus on some core tools and then offer the rest for self-discovery, or will you try to cover them all? Which tools are your workhorses that you will most likely emphasize?

Thanks, Frank
Elaine Talberton 21 Sep 2008 at 7:23 pm 2

This is a timely and topical post. Every day, on blogs, Twitter etc. not just one but many new (web2.0) tools. It is distracting and confusing.

I like the way you have displayed your best finds. For teachers, newbies especially it is important to keep it simple and relevant to good teaching practice and professional learning.

Hasten slowly I say, and select a couple. Present a rationale for why they should be the first and give many practical examples.
Elaine

Hands on in workshops is good too.
suzievesperon 21 Sep 2008 at 7:39 pm 3

Thanks for your comments Frank and Elaine,
I should point out that this is a full day workshop that I will be running. We will be looking at blogs and wikis as the basis for publishing, I will do a quick tour of the tools, and then the participants will have the option to choose a few to work on though I will be assigning each pair one tool to make sure they use to report on later on in the day. I certainly won’t be trying to get the participants to cover them all.
I would probably suggest that everyone has a go at Voicethread though and that they all try to embed movies from YouTube or TeacherTube. The rest is up to them. That’s why I’ve tried to put instructional material on each page so people can teach themselves to an extent while I do mini-presentations on tools for those that want more input in that one.
Kirstinon 22 Sep 2008 at 4:47 pm 4

I love that term “infowhelm” and I know exactly what you mean. I see a constant stream of try this, try that and of course I want to try them all!!
A clear favourite for me has to be VoiceThread. I guess really it all comes down to what people want/expect from a tool. I think perhaps it is a bit personalised, so what suits me may not suit someone else and vice versa.
The other thing I find is that I’m looking for cross platform tools as I’m working with a Mac at home and a PC at school, so I prefer things I can access with both. I always suggest that people choose one or two things and get really comfortable and confident with it and then add another one.
I must admit to saving things into delicious and storing them away “for later” until I have time in the holidays or when ever to play.
Billon 04 Oct 2008 at 1:24 am 5

Great list. I might also suggest diigo.com–social bookmarking and social annotation.

Best.

B