Top Ten Tools

Jane Hart has had an excellent idea - ask people in the learning trade what their favourite tools for learning or working. She has kindly invited on to the list, too.

Previous replies have come from Jay Cross, Clive Shepherd and Jane Hart - you can see the full list here.

Now, before I reveal my top ten, I ask you to write yours down. You’ll need it later.

Done? Here are mine:

1. WordPress – blogging is an important part of my online learning – both reading and writing (Learning Technologies and Donald H Taylor). After a couple of false starts with other tools, I did some research in November 2006 and chose WordPress. There were just under 500,000 WordPress blogs then. Now there are over twice as many - so I’m not the only one that rates it. I particularly like the flexibility in design and utility.

2. iTunes – for me podcasts are the perfect way to learn on the move – on the Tube, waiting for planes, driving – and iTunes is easily the best way of finding and organising them. Favourite broadcasters are the BBC’s Melvyn Bragg and Peter Day, but I’ve recently got into poetry, general business, language and general science broadcasts, too.

3. IE 7 – I don’t care if my machine is a Mac or a PC, and I don’t really care if the code is proprietary or open code, all I know is that I use IE 7 for hours every day, and it works for me. I particularly like the new tabs and easy-to-use RSS feed.

4. Google – you have to treat the results sanely, but this is my search engine of choice, and I cannot imagine working without it.

5. RSS – Is RSS really a tool? I don’t know if it qualifies, but I use it ever morning to check the latest postings on my favourite blogs and sites.

6. Linked In - I find this social networking tool invaluable. Keeping in touch with people is a vital part of my life. LinkedIn helps me keep track of my professional contacts, and extend them.

7. eMail – of various sorts, but especially the new free-to-use internet mail services from Yahoo and Google. Like Linked In, it’s a vital part of my social network.

8. Audacity – fabulous free software for recording podcasts.

9. My phone – a simple T-Mobile MDA, I use it to store podcasts, read mail, surf the net, and to take pictures and notes. A vital memory bank in my pocket.

10. The Book – if this weren’t a technology-focused list, this would be number one. Still, what other learning tool requires no power, is lightweight, carries so much information and can withstand being dropped in the bath? Gutenberg, 557 years on, we salute you!

Now, what are your favourite tools? Don’t reply to me - let Jane know using this form, and she might feature you on the site!