Introduction
Every year for the past 18 years, Jane Hart has asked, “What are the most popular digital tools for learning and why?”
I’ve answered her survey in the past but have never published my results. I decided to do that this year. Spoiler alert: If you’re looking for new and cutting-edge tools, you will be disappointed. Many of my go-to tools have been around a while! But, if you’re looking for tools that will help you create accessible content, read on!
My Top 10 Tools for Learning
I narrowed my list to ten tools for learning experience design and development I use in my day-to-day work. At the end of this post, I’ve included five additional tools I learn from.
Microsoft Word
I use Word for creating facilitator and participant guides for instructor-led training, drafting blog posts, taking notes, writing scripts, and creating storyboards. Its readability statistics are useful for revising my work to ensure that I’m using plain language. (Select “Editor” from the Review tab and then “Document stats” under “Insights.”) And of course, the “Check Accessibility” feature (also on the Review tab) is useful for catching things like missing alt text, irregular tables, and insufficient contrast, although it doesn’t catch everything.
Word gets a bad reputation for things like shifting text unexpectedly when you add a graphic, but I’ve found that I can create beautiful documents with it. It helps to work with formatting marks turned on (the paragraph symbol on the Home tab).
Microsoft PowerPoint
Here’s another tool that gets a bad reputation it doesn’t deserve. Blaming PowerPoint for boring learning is like blaming the grill if your burger is unseasoned and bland. It’s not the tool’s fault.
(Side note: my husband is grilling burgers as I write this. I’m smelling them and I’m hungry!)
I use PowerPoint for creating instructor-led training, marketing presentations, and webinars. I also use it to make or edit images quickly and easily.
PowerPoint makes it easy to create accessible presentations, whereas when I’ve used other tools, accessibility remediation took much more time. The key is to set up master slides to build in accessibility from the start. (I wrote a couple of posts about that.)
And there’s no need to sacrifice style. PowerPoint can create stunning presentations and even documents. (Check out Nancy Duarte’s book, Slide:ology, to learn more.)
Storyline 360
Honestly, I would rather not include Articulate Storyline in my list. Why? Because over the years, they’ve blatantly disregarded numerous, repeated requests from Mac users for a native Mac version. It’s frustrating because they should realize that a large percentage of designers are Mac users. And no matter what anyone tells you, installing Parallels and using Storyline that way is not a “seamless” experience. (Okay, rant over.)
Anyway, until I find another eLearning authoring tool that’s as easy and robust, Storyline will remain my go-to tool for developing eLearning. I especially appreciate how easy it is to create branching scenarios (although it’s easier when coupled with Twine, which you can learn about at Christy Tucker’s blog).
Storyline isn’t perfect for accessibility, but it’s better than many authoring tools, and they’re improving accessibility all the time. They’ve published an article about designing accessible courses with Storyline here.
Camtasia
Camtasia is my go-to video creation and editing tool. I’ve used other software, but nothing beats Camtasia (in my opinion) for its combination of ease of use, capabilities, and price. I’m still learning about all the new features they keep adding. What’s your favorite new feature?
Adobe Acrobat Pro
This isn’t the sexiest tool (I warned you in the beginning), but it’s one of the most important ones I use regularly. I save Word and PowerPoint files as PDFs and use Acrobat to ensure their accessibility, not only for people with disabilities but also for people who don’t have Office and might not otherwise be able to open those files. I also use it to create fillable forms, which I include as downloadable handouts for online courses.
Google Drive
Google Drive helps me keep my files organized (and backed up) so I can share them with my team and clients.
ChatGPT
I know there are lots of folks who are further ahead in the game with using AI tools than I am. (I’m trying to catch up, I promise.) Although I’ve dabbled with a few other tools, ChatGPT is the only one I’ve been using fairly regularly. I typically use it when I’m feeling stuck, to help me generate ideas for scenarios, write course descriptions, create evaluation rubrics, and summarize dense content. I’ve also used it to generate images I couldn’t find elsewhere, to correct a subtitle file that contained formatting errors I couldn’t find, and generate alt text for images.
Zoom
Zoom is, of course, invaluable for virtual meetings and remote learning. It’s my tool of choice over other virtual meeting tools for its ease of use and features.
Descript
Descript has become one of my go-to tools. I use it at least weekly for generating and editing transcripts and closed captions. I’ve even used it for converting video formats. The accuracy of its AI-generated transcripts still needs some improvements, but I find it very useful when there’s not an existing script. If you’d like to try Descript, you can get it here. There’s even a free version.
TPGi Colour Contrast Analyser
The CCA tool is another one I use at least weekly, and often daily. Whenever I’m designing templates, slides, infographics, and other design elements, this tool makes it easy to check for sufficient color contrast using an eyedropper tool to select the colors. I like that it’s a desktop application, so it’s easy to use when I’m not working online. If you’re not already using this tool, you can download it here. (And unlike Articulate, they have a version for Windows and one for Mac.)
Bonus Tools for Learning
I might have misinterpreted the assignment, so here are five additional tools for learning that I rely on when I want to learn new things. They’re ranked by order of how often I use them.
- Google: I grew up in a time when, if you had a question about something that wasn’t in the encyclopedia, you just kept wondering. And I am an eternally curious person who wonders about a LOT of things. So it’s no exaggeration to say that Google is my favorite digital tool for learning ever. And when I learned that you can search a particular site using “site:”? Game changer. (I use “site:*.gov” a lot when searching for public domain content. However, not everything on a government site is in the public domain, so use this with caution.)
- Duolingo: I’ve been using Duolingo to refresh my Spanish skills. (I used to be fluent, but it’s true what they say: if you don’t use it, you lose it.) In the meantime, it’s also taught me quite a bit about learner motivation and game design. Did you know that, in addition to 43 languages, they have music and math lessons now too?
- YouTube: YouTube has topped Jane Hart’s list for at least a few years now (not sure how many). It’s still the number one learning tool for most folks. That’s probably why YouTube results show up first in a Google search. I use YouTube the most for looking up tutorials, national news, and—let’s be honest—cute animal videos when I need a pick-me-up. Lately I’ve been enjoying some baby elephant videos.
- Audible: I mostly use Audible for listening to fiction audiobooks, but I also use it to learn about lived experiences different from my own. Listening to an author read their own story is my preferred way to learn from memoirs. (Trevor Noah’s memoir is pure gold.) And listening to other types of nonfiction helps me stay engaged, unless I want to highlight a physical copy. Audible also has podcasts and other bonus content for subscribers.
- Libby: Libby is a free service that lets you connect a library card to borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines from your public library.
Summary
What are your go-to tools for learning? Comment below!
Also see this page for details about how to submit your top ten tools for learning for Jane Hart’s survey. Responses are due August 30.
