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.

Learning to Work, Working to Learn

This post is my contribution to this month's Work/Learning Blog Carnival hosted by the venerable Dave Ferguson.

The last time I posted for this carnival (almost a year ago!) I wrote about trying to build learning into work when you're just too busy doing work.

This go-round, I'm at the other end of things: in a much-needed lull between projects, taking a breather. Opening my eyes, looking around, and seeing what I can see. A great time to brush up on skills, seek inspiration, and learn learn learn.

Here's what I've been doing lately on the job:

Tinkering

I've been tinkering around with new and old tools, expanding my skill set.

Audio:

I've been learning the basics of using Adobe Audition for sound recording and have been creating narration for a course we're currently building. This reminds me how much I like to make stuff.

PowerPoint:

Tom Kuhlman's got some great demos and exercises on his Rapid eLearning Blog, like this one on building an eLearning Template in PowerPoint.

Getting Inspired

Looking at what other, more creative people are building for eLearning seems like a no brainer.

Here's some of what I've been tapping into lately for instructional design inspiration:

• Tom Kuhlman's Resource List for the eLearning Guild's ID Zone at the recent Annual Gathering.
• Articulate Guru Awards 2009
• Clive Shepherd's 60-Minute Masters

What else should I be looking at? What are you looking at?

Reading

I'm still in the midst of The Adult Learner by Malcolm Knowles et al. My attention has admittedly wandered to shinier, more gripping things.

I've got a long wish list going in Amazon of books I'd like to read. Just need to make some decisions and add them to the cart. At the moment, my book wish list includes:

• Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007 to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Cliff Atkinson)
• Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) (John Medina)
• From Training to Performance Improvement
• (Jeanne Farrington) via Harold Jarche
• Non-Designer's Design Book, The (3rd Edition) (Non Designer's Design Book) (Robin Williams)
• Principles of Instructional Design (Robert Gagne)

Be sure to check out Essential Reading for Instructional Designers for more great book ideas. Have any to add?

Revisiting

Things don't seem to stick in my brain the way they used to.

Now's a good time to go back and thumb through some of my old favorites be they books, blog posts, articles, whatever. I pull something off my shelf (Essential Reading for Instructional Designers ) or head over to delicious and browse my bookmarks.

Sharing & Digesting

Since 2006/7, my blog had been my main vehicle for chewing things over and spitting them back up. The past year has seen a reduction in my posting. Some of that gap because I feel like I've said it all already. Some of the gap has been sheer laziness.

Since September, I've been blogging less because I've been twittering more. I wasn't at the eLearning Guild's Annual Gathering this year, but I felt close thanks to Twitter. So many resources to share.

Follow me @cammybean if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

Documenting

I've just discovered Evernote and I heart it. It's my new brain and it arrived just in time (my old one was getting kind of worn).

My iPod Touch synchs up with my desktop synchs up with the web version. Amazing. I anticipate this tool quickly becoming a best friend.

Check out eQuixotic's award winning Articulate piece for a nice view of Evernote's capabilities.

How do you learn at work? What are your favorite tools? Where do you go for inspiration?

Photo credits:

• Oh boy tinker toys! by Brianfit
• New Baby Bird Rehabbers by audreyjim529

My Top Ten Tools for Jane Hart

Jane Hart asked me to add my own top ten list to the mix.

I'm not a techie -- far from it. I'm an instructional designer with an emphasis on writing and schmoozing. For the most part, I like tools that are easy to use, easy to learn, look good, and create good-looking output.

Here goes:

1) The Google Brand

• iGoogle My starting point for just about every online activity.
• Google Reader All the news I need to know about e-Learning in one place.
• Google Alerts A nice adjunct to Google Reader; I'm always discovering something new via my "instructional design" alert.
• Gmail Gmail love.

2) FireFox I made the switch from IE 6 a few months ago and I love it. Although I think my love affair is mostly with the Tab feature, which IE has as well.

3) Blogger It's part of the Google brand, but it merits its own line item. Blogger is what I started with, so I feel sort of stuck with it. It does the job.

4) Adobe 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.

5) SnagIt Great for screen captures.

6) Microsoft 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.

7) MediaWiki Wiki love. And I've only been using it for my own project documentation. Haven't even gotten into the collaborative aspect.

8) Facebook It's only been a few weeks, but Facebook has given me a whole new warm and fuzzy feeling. I got a cupcake for my birthday! What could be better than that?

9) Bugtracker by FogBugz We've been using this bug tracking software in-house for the last few months. It's inexpensive, easy to use, customizable, and sends email notifications when bugs come in and when they get resolved.

10) Paper Call me old school, but I still like to take notes with pen and paper. I carry a composition book around with me most of the time to record meeting notes, brainstorm, jot down other peoples' great ideas, and doodle.