Nicole is the Flexible Learning Co-ordinator at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. She is responsible for advancing flexible learning (blended and distance learning) across the institution by teaching a module "designing online learning environments) on their PG CAP (Post Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice), by organising and running a Flexible Learning programme (consisting of "e-nspire" Forums, short courses and lunchtime seminars), and by running a bi-annual conference on Flexible Learning (the 2007 conference was called "From Grass Roots to Blue Skies"). And, of course, a thousand other things. More information about the Flexible Learning @ Heriot-Watt.

Nicole's Top 10 Tools as at 29 January 2008

1. Firefox - my favourite browser because of tabbed browsing, its versatility, the fact it came out of Netscape technology (which I had been using since 1996) and, most of all, its extensions and add-ons.

2. del.icio.us -  I use this site extensively for keeping, sharing and networking bookmarks and sites. I use it for my own professional development, and promote it for use in teaching.

3. Facebook - an excellent networking site, which I particularly like, because many professional contacts of mine that I know face2face are on Facebook and I enjoy networking online with a mix of people who I know face2face and those I have only 'met' online. There are a lot of interesting and useful groups on Facebook for professional development, and I also use this tool for my courses.

4. WordPress -  I use this site for my professional blog. I also recommend this one for use with students if a free blog is needed. It is easy to set up, straightforward to use, does not crash Firefox (like Blogger does) and is not tied into a Google or Yahoo account.

5. Adobe Professional: for creating rich media learning materials that can be uploaded into the institutional VLE or any other learning space. It is an excellent way to put links into documents and to embed audio and video files. I use this to deliver learning materials to students online, thus freeing up time for application classes, where the recently acquired knowledge is used on realistic, work-based scenarios, which students work on in groups and present in class. This method of problem-based learning was not developed by myself, but pioneered within by lecturers within my institution.

6. Bloglines - this is my preferred feed reader, which I both promote for use with students (especially when blogs are involved, as learning logs, etc) and which I use for my own CPD.

7. Ning - a most useful social networking site, which I mostly use for contact with online professionals. I particularly like the ability to create one's own network and I use it for a closed networking for participants of my courses

8. Wikis - Because we now have wikis and blogs in our institutional VLE, I do not use the free PB Wiki anymore with students. However, I do use wikis extensively

9. Netvibes - I use this as my starting page, customised for my needs, and promote this to students as well

10. Dreamweaver -  last but not least and certainly not for free, but it is my preferred html editor, with which I create all my sites.

Honorary mention: Second Life, I am currently involved in a project that uses SL in Multimedia design to teach students programming/scripting. The project is very new, so I wouldn't want to choose it as a top 10 tool yet.

Nicole's Top 10 Tools as at 2 August 2007

1. Firefox - my favourite browser because of tabbed browsing, its versatility, the fact it came out of Netscape technology (which I had been using since 1996) and, most of all, its extensions and add-ons.

2. del.icio.us -  I use this site extensively for keeping, sharing and networking bookmarks and sites. I use it for my own professional development, and promote it for use in teaching.

3. Facebook - an excellent networking site, which I particularly like, because many professional contacts of mine that I know face2face are on Facebook and I enjoy networking online with a mix of people who I know face2face and those I have only 'met' online. There are a lot of interesting and useful groups on Facebook for professional development, and I also use this tool for my courses.

4. WordPress -  I use this site for my professional blog. I also recommend this one for use with students if a free blog is needed. It is easy to set up, straightforward to use, does not crash Firefox (like Blogger does) and is not tied into a Google or Yahoo account.

5. Gabcast - a free and easy to use podcasting service which operates via telephone. No need for any software, just call a number and the podcast appears. I use this for my podcast on my blog and website

6. Bloglines - this is my preferred feed reader, which I both promote for use with students (especially when blogs are involved, as learning logs, etc) and which I use for my own CPD.

7. Ning - a most useful social networking site, which I mostly use for contact with online professionals. I particularly like the ability to create one's own network and I use it for a closed networking for participants of my courses

8. PB Wiki - amongst many free wikis this is my favourite one and which I not only promote for use with students, but use myself in my courses and module.

9. Netvibes - I use this as my starting page, customised for my needs, and promote this to students as well

10. Dreamweaver -  last but not least and certainly not for free, but it is my preferred html editor, with which I create all my sites.