What if schools could...

I thought this was interesting and worth reposting. What if schools really had access to innovative tools that students and teachers are using outside the school day and not just on their laptops...?

Tools - Banned and Mobile

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Posted by Miguel

Thanks to Jane Hart coming up with a list of tools. There is a lot to like in the list but I can't help but ask, "How many of these tools are banned in public schools?" For example, here's the list of top 50 that includes tools that are banned in Texas school districts I'm familiar with...of course, not ALL school districts ban all products at the same time, although some districts sure try to! (smile)

Aside from how many of the tools are banned, what does the selection of these by voters mean? If many of these tools are banned, how many are accessible by mobile phone? How many are used after-hours?

Ah well, just playing with the list. What other questions would you ask?

Current ranking in 2009	2008	2007	TOOL			# Votes
			Name	Platform	Cost
1	11	43=	Twitter BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Microblogging tool	O	F	159
2	1	2	Delicious MOBILE PHONE Social bookmarking tool	O	F	95.5
3	18	22=	YouTube BANNED in K-12 Video sharing site	O	F	79.5
4	3	7=	Google Reader MOBILE PHONE RSS / Feed reader	O	F	79
5	7	14	Google Docs BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Office suite	O	F	78.5
6	5	6	Wordpress Blogging tool	O	F	69
7	20	31=	Slideshare BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Hosting presentations	O	F	64
8	6	3=	Google Search BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Web search tool	O	F	56
9=	12	11	Audacity Sound editor and recorder	W M	F	54
	2	1	Firefox Web browser and extensions	W M	F	54
11=	16	31=	Ning BANNED in K-12 Social networking platforms	O	F/C	49
	4	3=	Skype BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Instant messaging/VoIP	W M	F/C	49
13	8	5	PowerPoint Presentation software	W M	C	47
14=	10	9	Blogger BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Blogging tool	O	F	45
	9	12=	Moodle Course mgt system	S	F	45
16	17	17=	iGoogle Personalised start page	O	F	37.5
17	13	26=	Wikipedia Collaborative encyclopedia	O	F	36
18	15	16	flickr BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Photo storage/sharing site	O	F	35
19	23	101=	VoiceThread Collaborative slideshows	O	F	33
20	26=	-	Jing Screen captures/ casting tool	W M	F/C	30.5
21	14	7=	Gmail BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Web-based email	O	F	30
22=	27	17=	Adobe Captivate Demo and scenario tool	W	C	29
	35=	72=	diigo Social annotation site	O	F/C	29
24	25	22=	Articulate Presenter/Engage/ Quizmaker	W	C	27
25	21	26=	SnagIt Screen capture tool	W	C	26.5
26	26=	50=	Camtasia Studio Screencasting tool	W	C	25.5
27	-	-	Evernote Note taking tool	O	F	25
28	-	-	Prezi Presentation software	O	F	24
29	19	15	Wikispaces Wiki tool	O	F/C	23
30	-	-	Wordle Word cloud generator	O	F	22
31=	-	-	animoto Create videos from your images	O	F	21
	24	17=	Facebook BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Social networking site	O	F	21
	50=	43=	iPhone/iPod/ Touch and apps	-	-	21
34	35=	43=	PBworks (prev PBwiki) Wiki tool	O	F/C	19
35	59=	50=	Adobe Photoshop Photo/Image editing tools	W	C	17
36=			Blogs	-	-	16
	22	10	Word Word processing software	W M	C	16
38=	38=	43=	Flash Animation authoring tool	W M	C	15
	66=	101=	Google Apps BANNED in K-12 Google application suite	O	F/C	15
	30=	31=	LinkedIn Professional social network	O	F	15
41=	66=	72=	Adobe Connect Web meeting/ conferencing	O	C	14.5
	28	26=	iTunes/iTunes U Music/podcast player and site	W M	F	14.5
43=	-	-	Dimdim Web conferencing	O	F/C	14
	50=	50=	Elluminate Web conferencing	O	F/C	14
	40=	40=	Google Earth Satellite and aerial imagery	W M	F	14
	-	-	Tweetdeck BANNED in K-12 MOBILE PHONE Desktop social software client	W M	F	14
			Wikis and wiki tools	-	-	14
48	65=	72=	Keynote Presentation software	M	C	12
49	59=	72=	Edublogs Educational blogging tool	O	F	11.5
50=	29	36=	Google Calendar Web-based calendar	O	F	10