Top Tools for Learning is a list of technological tools ranked by learning professionals in annual survey. The list organizes by overall score but is also broken into sub categories such as workplace learning, personal and professional learning, and education.
The website offers a brief analysis of the list and highlights. Survey results from previous years are available and can be used to identify trends in education marketplace.
This resource is useful for understanding what types of technology are popular and what categories are saturated with competition. New entries can be used to identify emerging markets.
If you are an educator and are trying to stay connected in this globalized world and keep up with the growing trends, then this market projection is key.
I consider myself someone who is tech savvy in my school. I am very familiar with most of these sites and I am actively using them. That being said I would recommend this website to any teacher in my school. With the impact of covid, almost all teachers are starting to see the true importance that technology has in the world and in our classroom. This projection gives a very easy breakdown of the top tech that we should be familiar with.
Google classroom something pre pandemic I used everyday in my classroom so kids that were missing could see my lesson posted from the day before, easily hand in assignments and check their marks, ect. This technology is up 115 spots. That not only brings attention to educators but also to technology specialties and venturers. It shows them what tech is important and being used in real work. I can guarantee this projection looks a lot different than it did last year as our use for technology has shifted majorly with at home learning.
I expect to seek out future versions of the report as it will help me with many things. 1) it will help me ensure I am using the best and most relevant technology in my classroom. 2) When I am no longer enrolled in the MET program it will drive me to be a lifelong learner and seek out innovation in my classroom.
Lastly I find this projection to be the most useful as it is super straightforward. It resembles the top charts of music, the “most streamed song” aka the most used tech is at the top. You see if it is becoming more relevant or if people are pushing away from it as it references if it moved up or down on the charts. Any teacher older or younger , tech hater, or tech lover could use the website and have an easy to follow link to check it out. I will definitely be recommending this site to my fellow colleges and bookmarking it for future use.
Thanks for your review, Skye. It prompted me to have a really good look at this one. I’m not sure I’d call it a ‘forecast’ exactly (rather, an analysis of current trends) but it’s definitely useful in a very practical way. I agree that it is extremely straightforward and user-friendly, especially for those who are not so familiar with technology and want to find a tool to meet their needs. I particularly like the grid view by tech type as a pre-vetted list of top tools (https://www.toptools4learning.com/top-tools-by-category/). Definitely better than just looking up “mindmapping tool” on Google.
Perhaps not the place to go to get inspiration for your new startup idea, but a great breakdown of productivity and digital tools!
I’m always a bit skeptical of Top lists, as the methodology needs to be pretty clear at the forefront–and often isn’t. It took a bit of digging past the list to the description of the mechanism. It’s an opinion survey, and the sample size is fairly small (about 2,000 respondents in 45 countries). Good marks for a global reach (I think, although the breakdown of respondents by country is lacking). What’s missing from this list is the Why: why has the particular product moved up in popularity, or moved down? It does serve a good purpose for those searching out new technologies to try; a quick-and-dirty list of some of the tech currently in use. Sometimes that’s all we need at the beginning.
I like a ranking list as long as it is based on real time usage not some arbitrary set of constraints. Resources in education are only as good as they can be applied, so a concept in use and gaining popularity means that it is valuable and could be worth my time exploring. The list is valuable in that some of the platforms have the same purpose, so if you a familiar with one and can compare it against others on the list. Its a statistical way to see a “review” without having to read all the reviews.
As a visual learner myself, I greatly appreciated the venn diagram visual representation of the top 100 tools for learning and the categories they fit into:
https://www.toptools4learning.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/TT4L2022.pdf
Having an easily accessible list to stay up to date is convenient, especially with the plethora of learning technologies available to teachers- one of the greatest challenges for me is finding a place to begin. That being said, the current projections are relevant even as it pertains to the reviews that were made 2 years ago. Interestingly, based on the Analysis for 2022, there are no new tools on the list as the author suggests that it is a year of consolidation for technology. If we continue to follow these trends, I am curious to know which digital tools have the staying power- I was fairly confident that the big names like Adobe Connect or Google Jamboard would persist- but we must have different expectations having gone through a global pandemic that forced us online.
Thanks for highlighting the Venn Diagram as it really helps to easily identify the top tools and how they can be used in the classroom. I agree that is challenging to know where to begin in the search for the ‘best’ learning technologies and which tools will become a constant in the EdTech space.
I noticed the same thing with the Venn Diagram; there was nothing in it (especially where all 3 overlap) that is not already being used in classrooms. It will be interesting to see what tools will have staying power now that most learning is back in the bricks and mortar class. As students now have this technological knowledge it would be a waste to disregard it and go back to a standard “stand and deliver” model.
Pros
– simple, straightforward, informative
– ranking includes key information with details such as comments and guides on how to use the tool
– clear data visualization with the list and venn diagram
Cons
– no history of complete rankings from previous years; would help to determine a longer term trend
– no history on the total number from previous years to determine the trend in activitiy and reliability of the website
– no clear explanation of the methodology used to rank the tools
This is a simple resource that covers popular tools used in Western education systems and the English-speaking world. Any niche tools will likely never show up on this list, unless more rankings are created based on sub-categories. I can think of uses such as professional development for newer teachers and teachers inexperienced in using technology, using the data to find trends in educational technology, and understanding the competition in the market.
Top Tools 4 Learning provides a ranking and a snapshot of educational technology tools that are available and trending for educational settings. It absolutely has limitations, such as details about how the tool can be useful, how it is or is not being used, and effective forecasting about development and future use.
What Top Tools 4 Learning does provide is a prompt for educators to dig into tech and trends. Educators can become isolated, sometimes stuck in ruts of consistency and efficiency that make exploring new educational tools challenging. I like the format of this tool prompts me to ask why something is trending, to wonder how it is being used as an educational tool, and as a result check it out for myself.
I would recommend this to my peers who need a starting point, a compass as they seek out usable technology.
Personally, I love the idea of beginning at a list of trending or most popular applications or tools to use for educators. I see “Top Tools 4 Learning” as a user friendly springboard for educators who are quite comfortable with what they already use or know and who might be discouraged or a little anxious with time when finding a new tool to use in their classroom. “There just isn’t enough time in the day,” is a popular phrase amongst teachers I work with and this platform might be one that is definitely less intimidating than others. Upon quick glance a user can gather some popular tools and be on their way. Quick, painless, to the point. I like it.