TOP TOOLS TOP 10 TOOLS 2007 &
2008
Nicole Cargill-Kipar
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Netvibes -
I use this as my
starting page, customised for my needs, and promote
this to students as well
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.
What are your
Top 10 Tools for learning? Let us know and help us to build
the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008
Nicole's Top 10 Tools as at 2 August
2007
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Netvibes -
I use this as my
starting page, customised for my needs, and promote
this to students as well
Dreamweaver
-
last but not least
and certainly not for free, but it is my preferred
html editor, with which I create all my sites.
What are your
Top 10 tools - for
your own personal working and learning
and/or
creating, delivering or supporting others' learning?
Let us know