Search Find Learn

1 Twitter - via Tweetdeck on mac and PC - sure, 40% of tweets might be 'pointless', but I think Twitter's great because I can see what other people like, when they like it. It's way more personal than an RSS subscription. And as someone who's always preferred the hit to the album, the poetry anthology to the poetry collection, Twitter gives me the popular, the interesting, the weird and wonderful.

2 Google search - I use Twitter for serendipitous learning when I don't know where to go for something to do - it's a lucky bag. But Google search is my first port of call for research, learning something particular or straight facts.

3 youtube - fantastic for learning something about almost anything - videojug rarely features in my video learning. I also LOVE embedding great youtube content into courses.

4 blogger - Blogger enables my blogging. And blogging forces me to organise my thoughts and discipline my thinking. What a shame a handicapped iPhone has ended my mobile blogging days.

5 gmail and google calendar - I know they're two different products, but for me they go hand in hand. I get a meeting request, I check times and slot it into my google calendar. I can synch this with my iCal and iPhone. I'm fierce organised these days ;) And after several years of using gmail, I'm appreciating google's amazing storage and search capacity. I feel like the elephant that doesn't forget.

6 Google documents - I work on Mac and PC, and am frequently on the move. I work with remote teams and clients. Google documents are great for creating and sharing documents and spreadsheets.

7 Google Chrome browser - I'm loving Google Chrome for PC. It's light, fast and intuitive. And not available on Mac :(

8 Apture - a must have for the blogger, I've been a huge fan of Apture since it's first release. And it keeps getting better - more reference sources, different types of media for embedding, twitter handle embeds and more. I'd really love it if I could embed Apture in some of the e-learning tools I use - saves on explaining every little thing, and is fantastic for informative snippets and hot links.

9 Wikipedia - if I know nothing about a topic, I usually make wikipedia my first source. Then I research on Google or in books to get more facts and context. But wikipedia is a fantastic, amazing information resource.

10 www.talkirish.com - what can I say about my Irish language social learning network? I've learned an incredible amount from this project - from how to finance a start-up, how to create, disseminate and promote free language learning materials, how to build and engage with a learning community and much more. I've learned how difficult it is to actualise a vision. And that even simple changes can take a long long time, but make a big difference! More than anything, creating www.talkirish.com has taught me if you want to learn, you have to do.