The fabulous Jane Hart of Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day has offered up this assignment:

"Please provide the names of your 10 favourite tools for your own personal learning/productivity and/or for creating learning for others and a short paragraph why you like each one."

I accept. And, as it happens, I'm starting this on the last day of this submission cycle (March 31). EXCELLENT.

UPDATE: this list also now appears (with nicer formatting, I have to say) on Jane Hart's site, here:  http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/shelleykrause.html

My name is Shelley Krause, and I am a storyteller and a matchmaker, both by inclination and profession. At this point in my life, that means that I work as a college counselor in an independent school in New Jersey's Delaware Valley (USA). I spend my autumns coaching essay-writing, my winters modeling and preaching patience and perspective, my springs getting to know a new group of students as I help them get to know themselves, and my summers thinking deeply about each of my rising seniors in turn as I write letters in support of their candidacy for university admission. I sometimes blog about my work at http://relaxnoreally.blogspot.com. At home, I am happily partnered and the mother of an inspiringly curious 6 year-old. Those hijinks are chronicled at http://butwait.blogspot.com

Here are my current top 10 e-tools for learning/productivity/creating learning for others, in alphabetical order:

Blogger (http://blogger.com)

I started blogging in 2003 when I was job-hunting and wanted to be able to keep my parents up to date on my process without calling them every day. Somewhere along the line, other folks started reading it, too, and I started making blogfriends, some of whom I've actually met in meat space now. If you've got something to say and share, Blogger is still a great FREE way to have a 24-7 presence in the world.

del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us)

What Jenny Luca said. My tagged pages are over here: http://del.icio.us/butwait

haikuworld (http://www.haikuworld.org)

A few years ago I made a commitment to being a life-long learner when it comes to haiku-writing. Haikuworld runs a monthly kukai, a poetry contest where anyone who enters is then given an opportunity to distribute a finite number of points amongst the other participants. I have learned more about haiku from this montly conversation than I have from any other single source. And this month one of my haiku was granted 12 points, which felt nice.

Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader)

Google Reader really changed my on-line reading habits. Now I can subscribe to and follow blogs even with intermittent entries or content that is only occasionally relevant to my current interests.  Keeping up? That's a whole 'nother story.

PBWiki (http://www.pbwiki.com)

In my work, I belong to an association of college admission counselors who periodically post lists of colleges to an association listserv. The search function on the listserv is weak. A colleague got into the habit of collating some of the more useful lists into an annual Word document. I worked with him to translate it in to a wiki. Wiki's are a terrific way of creating and disseminating information within a community of interested participants.  Our little college lists wiki is cooking along nicely over here:  http://collegelists.pbwiki.com  And of course I produced this list on my personal wiki.

Princeton Public Library's online features (http://www.princetonlibrary.org/)

The distance between hearing about a book I might want to read and my actually reading it has been dramatically shortened by the advent of online card catalogs, online book reservation system, online intra-library loan system, and online book renewal.  It's been good for my budget, too! My favorite pieces of plastic in my wallet are my library cards. The university library system also rocks, but that's not available to everyone, so the public library gets top billing.

TED (http://www.ted.com)

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free.  I rarely watch television anymore, and TED and my RSS feed are largely to blame.  That and the parenting gig.

Twitter (http://www.twitter.com)

Twitter is a social networking tool that enabled folks to create mini-blog entries through which they can share their lives with the world... 140 characters at a time. I'm a relatively new user, but I can already tell that it's going to be a great entry point to some new connections to other learners. You know a technology is working for you when you feel spontaneously compelled to evangelize! (Twitter Newbies FAQ)  Follow me at "butwait"!

YouTube (http://www.youtube.com)

I learned how to post a video of our snow day online via a YouTube tutorial. And then my son taught himself this breakdancing move by watching YouTube videos. 'Nuff said.

Ze Frank (http://www.zefrank.com) Ze Frank is a creative and good-spirited explorer who specializes in online connections and is fueled in part by a seemingly endless curiousity. I use him as a human filter for cool and heart-warming internet-enabled interactivity adventures. Through Ze, I have hosted a total stranger who was traveling across America on goodwill alone, recorded a team theme song, and discovered artists like David Horvitz.