Top Tools

What do your modern professional learner and designer’s toolkit, resources, activities, and communities look like?

From time to time, I find it worthwhile to update and turn them into resources that I can use and iterate on as I experiment and work on projects. For me, resources can vary:

Actionable insights and contents
Communities – online and offline
Interesting networks/people
Tools – digital and analogue

You may find interesting to dive into the yearly top tools for learning brought by Jane Hart.

Below are the latest tools and resources I use.

Table of Contents

WordPress

A reliable tool to clarify and share my learning and work in the flow of life and work.

Deep thoughts. Achievements. Work in progress. Research.

It is important to own my data. I have also recently added my archive page of all the posts I have published, produced and curated. I also use a Creative Commons licence on my website and blog to share my craft.

As an independent writer, I also test the waters with Substack to connect and discuss with strong and weak ties and fellow bloggers.

Microsoft 365

I have also used Microsoft 365 extensively with my clients: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Stream.

Managing documents I have created or uploaded through One Drive and the Microsoft 365 apps is convenient. I use them for personal productivity and collaboration on projects with clients.

Teams is used for exploratory or catch-up calls with people in my network, and to get things done with clients and partners when I did consulting missions.

Google Workspace

Google Docs, Sheet, Slides, Form, Jamboard, Sites, Keep to create, search, manage, review and refine content productions with clients.

For myself I can create customised personal brand assets with customised Google Slides templates.

I have used Jamboard to share feedback on business model canvases produced by cohorts of apprentices, one workshop session at a time. As the tool won’t be available from October 2024, I’ve started using Figma more.

Whimsical allows me to create flowcharts, quadrants and mind maps that I can share with my network and embed in blog posts. Like in this post. Check it out below.

I sometimes use Canva to create bingos, posters, covers, infographics, social posts, collages, presentations and visual synthesis.

DeepL

I use the tool to translate any content using machine learning and my human skills. Especially from English to French or vice versa.

Sometimes my network members share in their local language. So I use the tool to translate documents or excerpts from blog posts to understand and reflect on them.

Deepl Write helps me to improve my English writing.

Clickup

It is a responsive and easy tool to be productive and keep track of my learning flows/workflows. Also, to stay focused and manage projects.

Zoom

Reliable for community calls, meetings and live events such as meetups, conferences or webinars. I use the recording to replay and review the saved text chat to find links, thoughts, questions and answers, and notes that the host and participants shared after the conversation.

Google Meet is also a third video conferencing tool that I find useful with Google Chat for virtual peer support.

Moodle

I integrate content and activities for courses and workshops I host remotely, in person, or both with my cohort of apprentices. I also use a grid to more quickly evaluate the outcomes they produce individually and collectively.

Last but not least, it is also a resource. I enrich one session after another to feed my cohorts. With a fellow learning designer and teacher, we use it to facilitate and evaluate joint cohorts on topics ranging from digital marketing, creativity, innovation, digital project management and e-commerce.

Books & Kindle

I manage my bookshelf using Reads, Laters and Readings, and I use Highlights for upcoming annotated book readings, which I share in blog posts. I manage my bookshelf by topic.

I also use Goodreads to share my bookshelf.

I still read paperbacks.

Analogue

I use paper books, printed newspapers, posters, radio, exhibitions, paintings, pen and moleskine, cycling, swimming and walking to nurture my creativity, reflection and serendipity.

OneTab

Chrome extension to manage and quickly access the bookmarks I use every day.

Pocket is an app for later reading, whether it’s articles or videos I’ve bookmarked.

The extraction of quotes and highlights then goes to Substack or Google Keep, so I can retrieve them later with references and hyperlinks in a future conversation or blog post I’m writing.

Perplexity is a GenAI tool that I use to research at large, generate ideas and optimize my continuous learning.

Feedly

I read blogs, newsletters and news from my favourite and diverse sources and people. New themes emerged: personal mastery, Asia, writing, self-publishing, automation. I also paid attention to workplace learning, management and futures thinking, urban futures.

When I read, hear or watch content, I often extract the insights or resources to archive, to be retrieved at the right time in a project, conversation or blog post.

Social networks

Learning and engaging one conversation at a time, asynchronously, through tweets, content people share, and events they host or attend. Follow up. Maintaining conversation and energy with people and learning about weak and strong ties.

I have bookmarked and used search to turn LinkedIn/Mastodon posts into tasks or curated blog posts.

I still sometimes use Twitter (now X) to keep learning and talking to my network.

Slack

A valuable platform for networking, environmental scanning and learning with an online community I belong to: PBCC.

Another use I have had with clients: collaboration with my teams and clients.

Courses, Workshops

To go deep in disciplines through online courses (OpenClassrooms, Udemy, The Community Roundtable Academy) and workshops such as the Personal Knowledge Mastery guided by Harold Jarche.

Podcasts

I listen to podcasts on the go to get actionable insights from deep conversations. I listen to downloaded episodes when I am offline and on the move.

Youtube

Building my playlists to dive deeper into topics from subject matter and network experts. Catching up with replays of webinars, talks, meetups and live Q&As I couldn’t attend in communities I’m involved in. Digging into the arts and wild projects from creatives around the world. Learning from how-tos.

My Top Tools 2024

WordPress
Word
Clickup
PowerPoint
Moodle
Zoom
Kindle
Pocket Casts
Substack
Perplexity

Personal Knowledge Mastery’s Practices

“I suggest that all professionals look at their seeking knowledge, sense-making, and sharing practices and see what they can improve. This is the focus of the PKM in 40 Days online workshop.” — Harold Jarche

Here is what came up after I examined mine.

Did you enjoy the post? Check out Future Skills.