Social networking tools and software were prime subjects at this years’ Western Regional Educause. Here is a short list of sites that people were talking about in their presentations. Some of them I had heard of, some of them not, but all of them were fun to check out and to ponder their value and potential for learning:

Twitter: Allows you to let people know what you are up to, and to “poke” them to let them know that you are thinking of them. Does it have educational applications? Probably not–until someone finds a way to integrate it into something else.

Digg: Be your own editor and rate your news with other users and find articles out of the mainstream

Stumble Upon: Stumble on a good site and bookmark it for other users to stumble upon as well.

Waxmail: Voiceover email that can be used to provide more personable commentary on student work. Students send their papers as an attached email and you send an email back with an attached mp3 file recording of your comments. Fee-based version does not include advertisements.

And for a brief overview of emerging technologies, check out 7 Things You Should Know from the Educause Learning Initiative for a brief overview of the latest in technology tools.