My Tools, Techniques, and Ideas about Digital Learning

I remember growing up much of my digital education involved installing some software on my Apple II computer. I had some math programs and reading programs that I would play with as a kid. This was when I first started to realize that I wanted a career that involved computers. I remember going into the software store and drooling over all the wonderful titles I wish I had the money to buy. In that day and age, digital learning was confined to how much money you had to invest in buying software. Times have changed and most importantly the web has changed the accessibility to information and an education for just about anybody that has a computer . However, sometimes surfing through the pages and pages of sites out there can leave a person feeling as if there is too much information and not enough time to read and absorb it all. Therefore, I wanted to focus on some of the tools I use to help reign in some of this information and organize it in a matter that I can continue to use in the future.

You can’t go far in the digital world without hearing or using Google. My primary personal e-mail account has been with Yahoo for many years. But lately, I have also begun to look at the many tools that Google offers. One of my favorites is Google Notebook (http://google.com/notebook). When you are doing some serious web research and learning you need to be able to capture critical information in an accessible and easy to use tool. Google Notebook fills that need for me. With the add-on in Internet Explorer capturing information is only a click away. Retaining and saving critical pieces of digital learning is key for me and Google Notebook helps me with this every day.

The other tool I use daily is 37 Signals Backpack application (http://www.37signals.com). This is one web application that is bound to grow and grow. Their homepage states that over 1 million people use their products to manage their lives. I use it to take notes on books, digital reading, and anything else that I want. We also use the calendar feature to coordinate our family. Having one central calendar the entire family can access and change makes our lives a lot easier.

I have never been that interested in social bookmarking, but after reading a lot about del.icio.us I figured I would give it a try. The more you surf and the more you research the more bookmarks you have to keep track of. I finally got sick of keeping these bookmarks up-to-date in Internet Explorer. (http://del.icio.us) del.icio.us takes away the pain and hassle of bookmarking. Convenient tags allow you to get back to where you want to go in a flash. I have it installed on all my computers now and now my bookmarks are easily accessible and available to share with friends and family.

With so many sites and so many user ids and password, there is no better tool to use than Roboform. (http://www.roboform.com). Although this software costs a little money, it is worth every dime. A convenient browser add in as well provides for quick navigation and password entry. I also use its secure storage to save confidential numbers and other info I need to have handy, but don’t want accessible to the general world.

My final digital education recommendation is that you check out Capella University. (http://www.capella.edu) In 2005 I received my MS in Information Technology. Although I don't think that an online education was a great as my undergraduate degree at Rensselaer, I did enjoy the opportunity to learn in a very structured on-line environment. Having your own money invested is bound to make one spend the time to learn and grow.

My final tip is nothing digital. It is a simple timer that I have on my watch. I set my timer to help me focus and be productive. When time is up I know it is time to take a break or do something else. I share this with you because I believe we need to check the time and length we spend in front of our computers. As much as I love the computer and doing my own educational exploration on the web, I realize that I also need to take time to enjoy the nondigital learning experiences in life. This includes spending time playing with my family in the backyard and taking a walk in the park and feeling the grass between my toes. I work at home and sometimes I don’t know when to stop. Interconnectivity and digital learning are wonderful and I wouldn’t change them, but I also realize I need to set limits for me so I can improve the other areas in my life. After all my keeping a well-balanced life so I am successful in all areas of my life will help me focus even more when it comes time to more digital learning!

I am a rookie blogger just getting my feet wet in the blog world. You can check out more of my thoughts and ideas by visiting my blog (http://dlnewman70.typepad.com/orl/) where I try and share little things and ideas that make my ordinary life, radical!

Comments

[Rosa Say]

My goodness Derek, what a rich source of recommendations you have here! I will definitely be coming back to it when I have more time to explore them. I've gotten to be a big fan of the Google Apps and am one of those who finally switched to GMail from Outlook - something I never thought would happen, then GMail-love struck! - but I have never tried Google Notebook. Could you explain a bit more how you use it differently than Del.icio.us?

I agree that 37Signals is terrific too, and use BaseCamp for project management with my clients, but have not been using their entire suite of apps - and not personally at all. I know there is a TON more newness there in the enhancements they have made, and it is one of those situations where new features are great, but can make it harder to keep up and optimize the use of the tools we already have!

[Derek Newman]

Rosa,

Aloha! You asked specifically on how I use Google Notebook as compared to del.icio.us. Del.icio.us is relatively new to me so I am just getting my head around how I might be using this to increase my productivity in the future. I believe the primary difference that I consider between the two is whether I want to save a single page or part of the text within in a page which I consider as static content, or whether I view the content as changing (dynamic). I tend to capture parts of web pages that I find I would like to refer to again in the future in Google Notebook, and organize my favorites or web sites links in del.icio.us.

My good friend Dwayne (http://www.genuinecuriosity.com/genuinecuriosity/2008/03/marking-up-the.html)also had a recent post about a similar productivity tool over at Genuine Curiosity that I have been playing with as well (http://www.i-lighter.com). I can't say I have fully adopted it yet, but it has great potential. I just view Google Notebook as an easy tool to use. In the past I have used Microsoft OneNote for this type of stuff, but having web connectivity and transitioning to more web apps seems to be the direction I am heading with work and personal productivity tools... probably much to the dismay of people at Microsoft.

The part I struggle with the most is that there are so many tools out there now that it is hard to choose just one that you implement and stick with. A month from now a totally new one that seems to work better hits the web and then I start thinking,"hmmm, what if or what am I missing if I don't use this other one."

Thanks,
Derek