Wednesday, April 15, 2009

My Top Ten Tools for 2009

Cammy's Top 10 Tools of 2009

These are my favorite tools in support of my own learning adventures.

  1. Google Reader It's how I stay informed on the latest blog posts and news. Used to be my first stop in the morning after email, although that's recently changed. Now I stop first at Twitter.
  2. Tweetdeck I'm officially hooked to Twitter and use Tweetdeck to organize and group those I follow. My best column: eLearning, of course! Not only is Twitter great for the occasional laugh, but also a great source of information and links. Have a question? Ask your Twitter network! Warning: Tweetdeck does bog my old, creaky laptop down a bit.
  3. Firefox My browser of choice. I usually have between five and ten tabs open -- my rather imperfect way of maintaining my reading list.
  4. Blogger Blogger is what I started with, and I've stayed loyal. My blog is part of my external brain. A place where I process thoughts and ideas, record notes of online sessions, and seek advice.
  5. Evernote I heart Evernote. It's my new notetaking application. So easy to clip from articles online, jot down to do lists, and tag and organize it all. The desktop version synchs to the web which synchs to my iPod Touch. I can take and access my notes anywhere. Very cool!
  6. Delicious Tag articles as you go. Share your lists with your friends and clients. It's delicious. Really.
  7. Google Calendar This is the first year I haven't had a paper-based engagement calendar, which is weird. But Gcal helps me keep myself organized, and now that I've discovered CalenGoo for the iPod I'm all synched up.
  8. My iPod Touch I know that this is a piece of hardware, but it makes learning and recording information on the fly a breeze, at least when there's wireless around. I'm ready for the iPhone...
  9. Flash I don't actually develop a thing with Flash myself, but our designers and programmers do some fabulous stuff with it! As an instructional designer, I feel like I can design just about anything and these really smart people can do something with it in Flash.
  10. PowerPoint Yes, there's lots of groaning about PowerPoint. But I like to use it as a simple wireframe tool. I can't program to save my life, but I can create a course flow mockup using PowerPoint that gets my ideas across to those who can make it look really good.
Check out all the other top ten lists from learning professionals at Jane Hart's Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.

8 comments:

Sue Taylor said...

Excellent list!! I thoroughly agree. I don't use everything you listed but I have wanted to. :)

Cammy Bean said...

Hey Sue! Thanks for commenting. What tools do you use? (I suspect Captivate is high on your list?)

Unknown said...

I read you list...checked it twice. And whole-heartedly agree. I would add Captivate and Jing ...man do I use Jing! PPT is among my must haves as well, good for concepts and I have tinkered in Articulate to produce some solid Interactive Job Aids (IJA). My list also includes my new Blackberry (tool?, yeah allows me to tap my network quickly). Also really starting to get into Yammer ... maybe Present.ly or status is better, but I stumbled on Yammer first - created T&D internal microblog ...not too shabby. Thanks for the fun post!

Cammy Bean said...

Hey Mark,

Would love to hear more about how you're using Yammer within the firewall as well as those IJA's you're creating with Articulate. Fire up your blog!

Unknown said...

dipping my toes in the pool. Water seems cold... :)

Cammy Bean said...

Just jump. It might be cold at first. but then you'll find it's very warm...

Dave Lee said...

Hey Cammy. Very nice list. I use most of the tools you mention and totally agree with including Powerpoint. My problem is that I don't yet have the one tool you apologize for including - the iTouch (or other mobile access device).

Gcal is great and I like Evernote, but the fact that I can only access them from my laptop (which these days feels so much like a desktop) they lose a great deal of their power.

To Mark: Cammy's right about just jumping in regarding blogging (or any of the other social media). The learning curve is small and it gets to be fun in a short time.

Cammy Bean said...

I agree, Dave. The handheld device is the new laptop.