TOP 10 TOOLS 2008
Jenny Luca

My name is Jenny Luca and I am Head of Information Services at Toorak College in Mt.Eliza, Melbourne, Australia. This means I am a Teacher-Librarian and I teach an English class as well. We are trying to move our school forward by exploring the potential of Web 2.0 applications and how we can use them effectively in our learning program.

I write a blog called; Lucacept - Intercepting the Web.  The blog was initially a means of tracking my own professional learning and hoping that others would be able to learn something as they read my posts. It’s become my link to the world and the global connections I have made have been invaluable.

Jenny's Top 10 Tools as at 27 March 2008

1. Skype  - the ability to chat or talk directly and use a webcam to see your contact has been very effective. We had a Skype conversation with participants from Hawaii, Korea and Australia that was conducted with an entire Yr 9 group. Had a huge impact on our students and got a global project off the ground.
2. Jing – I love being able to capture any part of the screen I want and then be able to highlight sections or write on the capture.
3. Google Reader – having feeds come directly to my reader saves enormous time. I’m trying to introduce it to staff and students individually to highlight its potential.
4. Google Notebook – I use this in tandem with my reader to cut and paste from the Web items of interest for blog posts. Really like the fact that you can share your notebooks to encourage others to contribute. Great for group work.
5. PB Wiki – We use PB wiki to create wikis for class projects. They are replacing pathfinders that were static pages – the fact that users can edit pages has created another level of interaction in the development of resources for learning.
6. del.icio.us – the tagging facility and ability to write a note about the page you are bookmarking makes this particularly useful. Not to mention the fact that you can access this anywhere you have an internet connection!
7. Wordpress – have to mention this blogging software. Its ease of use has enabled me to reach a worldwide audience.
8. Twitter -  great networking tool. Sometimes mundane and inane comments, but gems appear with great links that take you somewhere new.
9. Voicethread – just started working with this but can see it will be a valuable tool for all subject areas. Love the fact that my students also recognise its potential and offer lots of great ideas for its use when I ask them how do they think it could be used in classrooms.
10. Keepvid – converting files from YouTube to a format that ensures I can store them on my hard drive and have them work when I need them has been invaluable. (I know – think about copyright considerations!!!)