{"id":2326,"date":"2020-08-11T14:08:53","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T13:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modernworkplacelearning.com\/magazine\/?p=2326"},"modified":"2020-08-11T14:15:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T13:15:15","slug":"janes-personal-top-10-tools-for-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/modernworkplacelearning.com\/magazine\/janes-personal-top-10-tools-for-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Jane’s Personal Top 10 Tools for Learning in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Top Tools for Learning 2020 (14th Annual) survey will close on Friday 21 August<\/strong>. Have you voted for your favourites yet? If not, you can do so by completing an online form here<\/a><\/strong> or else send a tweet to me, @C4LPT<\/strong><\/a> with your top 10 tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will reveal the Top 200 Tools for Learning list on Tuesday 1 September. The list is already shaping up to be very different this year, and I’ll be providing my analysis and some infographics as usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But meanwhile here is my own, personal, selection of the 10 tools that I find invaluable in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 & 2 – Twitter<\/a><\/strong> is the place where I quickly and easily keep up with what\u2019s happening in the world \u2013 and in particular what others are up to with their ideas and activities around workplace learning. It\u2019s the first place I go to when I wake up in the morning. But I do prefer to use TweetDeck<\/a><\/strong> rather than the web interface \u2013 where I\u2019ve set up different columns for my news feed, mentions, hashtags I follow, etc. This makes it much easier for me to see the overall picture of what\u2019s happening in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 & 4 – I really couldn\u2019t do without Feedl<\/a><\/strong>y<\/strong><\/a> though. This is my news reader, where I aggregate well over 300 blog and website feeds. I use this as another means to keep up to date with new technology, the future of work, and other related topics. I also rely heavily on Google Alerts<\/a><\/strong> to send me other resources that I might have missed – particularly on “continuous learning” and “lifelong learning”. And when I across any gems I share them on Twitter too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 – WordPress<\/a><\/strong> is the platform I use to power all my websites. I make use of a large number of plugins that enhance its default functionality and appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 – This year I’ve gone back to using Yammer<\/a><\/strong> to host the online workshops I run \u2013 since it as it is all about the social experience; people interacting and learning from one another. I do prefer the conversation threading there than on Slack. And by using Yammer, participants can see how valuable a platform it is to underpin both informal and formal social learning and collaboration in the workplace, and that they really don’t need a separate social learning platform. Using an enterprise social network or collaboration platform means that learning and work are fully integrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 – I do use a number of communication tools but WhatsAp<\/a><\/strong>p<\/strong><\/a> has become the essential one for me for interacting with individuals \u2013 clients, colleagues, friends and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 & 9 – When it comes to producing stuff (i.e. resources), I now believe in keeping things as simple as possible; I don\u2019t over-engineer content. I find that I can quickly create effective content using basic tools like Wor<\/a><\/strong>d<\/strong><\/a> and PowerPoint<\/a><\/strong>. At the end of the day, the people I create the content for are adults and don’t need trivial or gratuitous \u201cbells and whistles” to be encouraged to read the stuff – they just want the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 – And the final tool on my list is Excel<\/a><\/strong>. This is where I keep track of and analyse the data I collect for many different purposes (including the Top Tools data). It also supports the administration for the workshops I run – so it’s my mini-TMS (training management system) if you like! Once again it’s all about keeping everything as simple and cost-effective as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what are your favourite tools? Please do share them in the 2020 survey.<\/p>\n

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