TOP TOOLS 2007 & 2008
Jay Cross

Jay Cross helps organizations improve performance by marrying informal learning to web 2.0. His book on Informal Learning convinced thousands of people that most learning takes place outside of workshops and classes. His new book, Learnscape Architecture, addresses how corporations can take advantage of informal learning over the long term.  Find out more about Jay and his work at jaycross.com.

Jay's Top 10 Tools as at 11 August 2008

1. Firefox -- remains my window on the world. Because it's open source, it keeps getting better and better.
2. Delicious -- hopping from one person's categories to another's makes this an incredibly rich research tool
3. WordPress -- my primary way of communicating with the world.
4. Skype -- free phone calls and conference calls but also the ability to record (instand podcasts!).
5. pbWiki -- has replaced my former website. It encourages collaboration, too.
6. iMovie -- Apple's entry-level video studio is great for simple edits. I'm using video more and more these days.
7. Ning -- because it's a Swiss Army Knife community application. It does many things quite adequately and requires no technical skill.
8. Google Specialized Search -- lets me refine the sites I want to search from. I have a Google search box that searches for stuff across all my blogs, wiki, and community.
9. Apple Keynote -- similar but superior to Microsoft's Powerpoint, it's also handy for packaging webinars and video.
10. Wikipedia -- an unparalleled reference work. It's alive.

Jay's Top Ten Tools as at 1 January 2008

1. Firefox -- it's my window on the world

2. Google Search  -- it's my universal finder and research tool, both online and on my hard drive

3. Skype -- a great (and free) alternative to the telephone

4. WordPress -- the best blogging tool I've found

5. Google Docs -- for writing, sharing, storing, presenting; I have given up MS Office entirely

6. Google Reader -- for managing RSS feeds

7. Ning -- build an online community in 20 minutes

8. Adobe Connect -- my 24/7 office

9. pbWiki -- mainly for archiving goodies, somewhat for collaboration

10. Adobe Dreamweaver -- a powerful yet powerfully simple way to create webpages

Jay's Top Ten Tools as at 3 July 2007

1. Firefox, because it's my gateway to the web, and it keeps getter better and better. Hoo-ray for Open Source

2. WordPress, because it's my main means of communication with the outside world. Also Open Source and always getting better.

3. Gmail, because I can reach it from anywhere with a web connection and its storage is nearly endless

4. Google, not just the search engine, but also Google Docs (perfect for collaboration), Google Reader, (does all my RSS now) Google Calendar, Google Groups and Google Talk

5. PowerPoint, because it's a simple and quick way to create graphics. (The presentation part is secondary for me.)

6. Ning, because it enables anyone to set up a viable community site in minutes.

7. flickr, because I take a lot of photos and could not keep them organized before

8. Picasa, because it's a rapid way to touch up photos

9. QuickTopic, because I can set up a private discussion thread in next to no time.

10. Delicious, because it lets me keep my bookmarks on line and look at everyone else's.