TOP 10 TOOLS 2007 & 2008
Kevin D Jones

I am a Training Manager for a software company based in Portland, OR.  My focus is on ‘Social Learning’ or ‘Learning 2.0’ or ‘Informal Learning’ – whichever you prefer to call it.  As a member of the local chapter of ASTD, I head up the Social Learning SIG (Special Interest Group), focusing on what it is and how to use it.  I also have my own blog on this subject, www.EngagedLearning.net.  I will be speaking at ASTD’s TechKnowledge 2008 next week, the eLearning Guild’s conference in April during the Learning Management Colloquium, and at the State of Oregon’s training convention in May – all on Social Learning. My work is partially focused on using these tools and helping others use and adopt them.

Kevin's Top 10 Tools as at 20 February 2008

1. De.licio.us - Can't beat having your bookmarks on any computer and sharing them.

2. FriendFeed - I learn a lot from the info and links people share.

3. Google Reader - Learning every day.

4. Firefox - The extensions are fabulous.

5. iPhone - Grabbing my whole life and putting it the palm of my hand.

6. WordPress - Blogging.

7. Clearspace - From Jive Software, a social learning platform.

8. NING - Sharing information within so many different groups.

9. Outlook - Even though I am really trying to cut down on the amount of email I use.

10. iTunes - Pod/Vodcasts expand my mind.

Kevin's Top 10 Tools as at 20 February 2007

1. Firefox – IE doesn’t even come close.  I have been able to do SO much with the add-ons that it has become invaluable to me.  People come by all the time and say, “Wow!  Your browser can do that?”  More than visually impressive, it has saved me a lot of headaches!

2. Google Reader – Used every day.  Simple, quick and connected to my other Google tools.

3. Gmail – Although I use Outlook for work, Gmail is my choice for personal.  The conversational grouping is easy.

4. De.licio.us – The Firefox plug in for De.licio.us makes this easy as well.  As you can tell, I am all about ease.

5. Google Calendar – Managing a number of calendars in one without sharing was a pain before Google Calendars.  Now I can share parts of a calendar with some, keep some private and we can all be on the same page.

6. Google Docs – Same here: all on the same page.  No more emailing docs back and forth.  And for school (I am going through my Masters) this simplified group projects and kept meetings to a minimum.

7. Clearspace – I have come to love using this within our organization.  Created by Jive Software here in Portland, OR, this integrates blogs, wikis, forums, RSS and more so that we can better collaborate and work together.

8. Audacity – Although I don’t use it very often, any time it comes to manipulating sound it quickly does the job.

9. PicLens – It is an add-on to Firefox and it has saved me a BUNCH of time.  I look for pictures a lot and nothing beats this.

10. RocketDock – By Punk Software.  Quick and easy access to my most used programs and files.