1. Flash CS4

There is no doubt that I’m a Flash enthusiast and what I love the most about Flash is the creative power of one application.  I use it everything from graphic design, web design, animation, and programming.  The potential of this tool is staggering for e-learning to web applications.  If you are an educator or a creative person, delving into the potential of Flash is well worth anyone’s time.  It’s hard to explain to most people what Flash is capable of.  Most people when they think of Flash think of Flash Video or Flash Player.  But this is shortsighted.  It is a content creation tool with enormouse power.  I’m excited about the future and with Moore’s Law, as mobile devices become more CPU capable, Flash will become increasingly more mobile and ubiquitous.

2. IPod Touch

The IPod Touch is really a great device if you don’t want the monthly fees of an IPhone.  There are few things you cannot do with the Touch and every day with new apps released, the Touch becomes even more useful, from listening to movies, checking email, texting, and syncing your data.  I think it would be perfect if it offered a Zune subscription service or something like Spotify or Lala.  There are few technologies I use more religiously than my Touch, relegating MP3-only players to the bottom of my drawers.

3. Moodle

Creating an engaging online course for students would not be possible without Moodle.  It’s easy to install on your own server and provides a safe interactive space for teachers and students to share and collaborate.  I’ve advocated it more with teachers at my school and its quick and slim interface makes it the preferred option for online course development.  I am learning daily about its ability to support student learning.

4. WordPress

WordPress has solved the pain of blogging for me.  I tried years ago and gave up due to the frustration of theming and updating content.  The newest updates this year to the backend interface have really made the experience simple and convenient.  Installation on your own server is simple and the appearance to the end user is customizable to your tastes.  I still have not figured out a satisfying way to support commenting (Goal for 2010).

5. Lala

I used to be a music enthusiast years ago, but lost the interest in listening to the radio, which is plagued by advertisements.  Discovery of new music became difficult.  Lala is one of many services online that allows you to listen to songs one time for free, upload your music library to the cloud for streaming, and purchase costs at low-cost (10 cents) for unlimited streaming.  It is the best option for previewing an album to determine whether it’s worth buying in entirety or a select number of songs.  With the a la carte format, it becomes much more imperative for artists to make more than a few quality songs.

6. Google Reader

The ability to subscribe to the stories and websites of interest to me is indispensable.  Subscribing to the Times is pointless when I can subscribe to several national newspapers online and get, on the most part, the same content.  It keeps me fully updated with topics of interest to me.  Google Reader has a easy to use interface online and even through the IPod Touch app.

7.  Twitter

I like Twitter because it is public updates on all topics.  It’s fun to just see what’s going on real time from the mouths of the masses.  I’m definitely not a Twitter junkie like other people, but I can see its value and as a developer, it’s open API allows for some intriguing mashups.

8. Google Chrome

I swore by Firefox last year, but with the release of Chrome, I’ve found myself choosing to start this application first.  It’s snappy fast in my opinion, and the interface is simplistic like many Google services.  After using it awhile, it makes me feel like Firefox is clunky and cumbersome.  They’ve recently added extensions and bookmark syncing to the developer edition of Chrome making it even more useful.  If my next favorite of the year, Diigo, adds bookmark syncing or filters to an extension, I may have no reason to use Firefox again.  Also, some websites do not render in Chrome like Moodle’s HTML editor.

9. Diigo

I started with Delicious and moved on.  Diigo is great for tagging and organizing my bookmarks.  And I bookmark everything.  I keep a constantly updated library of links in the cloud for constant reference.  Bookmarking is a type of journaling for me.  It keeps a record of what’s interesting or important to me.  Diigo has a slick interface online and provides a large amount of collaboration tools (sharing, annotating, read later, filters, quick-bookmarks) in the toolbar.  Even signing up for a Diigo account is simple now.  I tried to help someone create a Delicious account and the experience of creating the account was so frustrating that I said, “Let’s just use Diigo.”  Even though I find Delicious easier for the novice user.

10. Free Technology for Teachers Blog

If you want good tips about all the websites for teachers, this blog is unparalleled.  New content is posted religiously about different services and the write-ups are concise and useful.  Of all the blogs regarding technology and education, this simple blog is worth following on a daily basis.  If I could only follow one blog as a teacher, this might be the one I’d choose.

Technologies I Predict on my List of Technologies of 2010 and into the future:

Drupal, AIR and Flex, Android based-Phones, Spotify (if released in US), and an EBook reader with $5 books