Cammy's Top 10 Tools of 2009
These are my favorite tools in support of my own learning adventures.
- 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.
- 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.
- Firefox My browser of choice. I usually have between five and ten tabs open -- my rather imperfect way of maintaining my reading list.
- 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.
- 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!
- Delicious Tag articles as you go. Share your lists with your friends and clients. It's delicious. Really.
- 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.
- 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...
- 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.
- 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.
