Ernest’s Top-10 Social Media Tools

By Ernest Koe | December 03, 2008 | Comment |

Teaching & Learning

WordPress/Blogger- First came the blog. All roads lead to a blog.
Samson’s ZOOM H2 Handy Recorder – High quality audio, a podcaster’s and roving reporter’s dream
MacBook/iMac – Yes, you can do this with other computers, but iLife only works on a Mac
iLife – Yes, you can use other software but Garage Band, iTunes, iPhoto, iFill-In-The-Blanks integration rocks
YouTube – The grandfather of video sharing (checkout Vimeo as well)
Flip MinoHD Camera – Shoot some video, share it, mash it up
Skype – Interview people with SkypeCast
Flickr – Got a picture, share a picture. Media gallery without the hassle
CreativeCommons.org – Rights matter. Let’s educate ourselves properly.
iTunes University – Yes, another iThingy but again, integration rocks.

Honorable Mention: Twitter – my instinct is that as an engine of discourse, it is good…love to see some examples of its value. Wikipedia – Librarians (and the History teacher in me) tend to get a little nervous about it, but I can make a case for its inclusion as a legitimate resource.

Marketing/Community

Drupal CMS – Not as out-of-the-box cool as WordPress but this if you need a complete industrial strength CMS that will grow with your organization, start here. Proof ♥ Drupal
Facebook – Community in-a-can. It’s organic, it’s there whether you care or not.
Twitter – Participate.
YouTube – The grandfather of video sharing (checkout Vimeo as well)
Flip MinoHD Camera – Shoot some video, share it, mash it up
Samson’s ZOOM H2 Handy Recorder – High quality audio, a podcaster’s and roving reporter’s dream
Ustream.tv - Streaming video….can’t beat this
CreativeCommons.org - Rights matter. Let’s educate ourselves properly.
GetClicky.com – Web Stats matter, ROI starts here
Blip.TV – Everyone can be ‘MadMen’

About the Author

Ernest Koe

I love what I do. The best part of this job is that I get to talk to people and organizations about information technology--not just narrowly about database systems, or websites or the technical kung-fu surrounding integration and software but also broadly on the use of information itself and its impact on our businesses and schools. My technical expertise is in information systems--databases and web technologies--but my professional interests cover technology in the context of education, community-development and business-development. When time permits, I blog about these things at http://proofgroup.com/blog/ernest.

http://www.admissionsquest.com Peter Baron

Here’s a subtle nudge to expand the academic list to 11 so twitter can get elevated from its honorable mention status.

My sense is that twitter will cement its position as an academic tool as blogging becomes a curriculum staple in creative writing courses. Imagine encouraging students to tweet short, succinct micro posts as a way to bridge blog entries. Great tool to articulate an idea and encourage a response from one’s peers.
antonioviva

Great list Ernest. I agree with Peter. The idea of microblogging is new to schools and while “old fashion” blogging is better understood, the perception of those educators interested in technology is that some of them still see Twitter and microblogging as nothing more than posting what you had for breakfast and where you are going for dinner. The idea that you can foster conversation is new.

I recently spoke to our Director of Sustainability about how he might use Twitter to communicate our sustainability initiatives as well as network with a larger group of peers. This concept is new to schools thinking about using Twitter, at least it is in my opinion.