Prezi Presentation on Inspiration

Considering the groups explorations of different Web 2.0 tools, we generally seemed to find Inspiration a very versatile tool for different subject areas.  The variety of different maps and flow charts, along with the many visual aids Inspiration provides makes it a great option for the classroom.  Unfortunately, the big drawback with Inspiration is the included cost.  While the software has a free trial option, it is much more useful to purchase the entire program.  The trial is limited in its capabilities, but there is certainly some value in it if teachers chose to use the software only once in the year.  Other than that, we all found it to be a valuable tool if made available on school computers.

Here is our Prezi presentation on Inspiration 9.  Enjoy!

Mindtools for Learning

OpenOffice is a free productivity software suite that is comparable to Microsoft Office and can be found at http://www.openoffice.org/. It is in an open source format which means that the community gets to contribute to the development. OpenOffice.org comes with a word processor, spreadsheet, database, drawing program, and a very useful equation editor. In addition to being free, OpenOffice is compatible with all Microsoft Office file formats and files can also be saved in “open” format which allows for access across multiple platforms that may not use Microsoft file extensions. Another nice feature of OpenOffice is the ability to convert a file directly to a .pdf without special plugins. This has been available through OpenOffice for years but has just recently been added as a tool in the Office productivity suites (2007 and newer). This is a great resource for individuals and corporations that are operating on a tight budget but still need the compatibility with Microsoft Office.

XMind is a free concept mapping tool that can be found at http://www.xmind.net/. There are multiple templates available to choose from, including concept map, brainstorm chart, and flow chart. XMind is a tool that is designed to be used for students and adults as there are many tools that meet the organizational needs of business. Once a template is open, the user simply double clicks to add content and can arrange the information on the page in almost any way they see fit. For students, this would be an easy to use tool to organize content for projects and papers.

Inspiration and Kidspiration are both concept mapping tools that are similar to XMind and can be found at http://www.inspiration.com/. The tools each have similar features but Kidspiration is geared more towards the K-6 learner while Inspiration was developed to be used by 6-12 graders (or higher). The downside to these tools is that they are not free. Each product can be purchased in a digital-download form for $69 which is not too pricey for what you get. They come with basic templates and users can create concept maps, diagrams, and outlines or download a large array of content specific templates. As is true with most pay software, there are a few more option available with Inspiration/Kidspiration than XMind, but most users will not have a need for a lot of these features and can get by with the free alternatives. XMind is a great alternative to Inspiration/Kidspiration along with another free concept mapping tool CmapTools (http://cmap.ihmc.us/) which is not quite as polished as XMind.

Web 2.0 and Google docs

Don't know why this post didn't stick the first time so I will re post it now. Michael, do you have any idea what happened to my first post? Web 2.0, which is named from a term used in the O'Reilly Media Conference several years ago, has evolved to mean any web tool or application that allows users to communicate, collaborate, or otherwise interact across the Internet. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are the most famous but there are numerous others that exist to make communication among students, friends, and work colleagues easier. Blogs, like this one using blogger.com, allow users to share ideas and opinions with virtually anybody that wants to read what they have written. Video sharing sites like YouTube.com allow users to post videos and comment on them. This site has made many people recognizable because of something they have done in a YouTube video. It has also led to the term "viral video" which didn't exist until recently and occurs when a video is literally viewed by millions of people worldwide. Educators can use tools like these in the classroom as well. I use YouTube for showing short video clips to my health classes. Blogs can be utilized for group or team assignments. Teachers of any subject should be able to use some sort of web 2.0 tool in their classroom. All they have to do is find the right tool for the class and assignment. Google has created several tools that fall into the web 2.0 category. These tools include Sites, Reader, Blogger, and Docs. Sites allows users to build their own web pages, all you need is a google account to get started, it is completely free. Reader allows users to have every online newspaper, magazine, or blog within easy access so you don't have to go running all over the Internet to read them everyday. Blogger is for creating, maintaining, and reading blogs. Docs basically acts like Microsoft Office. It allows users to create documents, presentations, or spreadsheets. Docs would be most easily introduced into classrooms as it involves items students and teachers are generally familiar with. But tools like Blogger and Sites could be used by teachers that want to try something new or push the envelope with their students.

Prezi Presentation

Prezi is a web 2.0 tool that is free to use, if you sign up for a public account, and can replace Microsoft Powerpoint. It does not use slides. Instead, it uses a "whiteboard" that the user can type on, insert photos, and customize just like a poster or bulletin board. During the presentation, instead of changing screens, Prezi just zooms to the next item the creater selected. This tool definitely makes presentations different, if not more interesting. I did have some bumps in the road while creating my first Prezi however. Like with anything new, I made a few "newbie" mistakes that I was easily able to rectify. But I had some major issues as well. First, I had a problem pasting the image from the wordle site (the web tool I did the presentation about) onto the presentation board. I eventually had to go to the FAQ to get that problem solved. I then had an issue with the autosave feature. The first 4 or 5 times I created the viewing order, it did not save correctly. I had 11 items in my presentation and only 5 or 6 of them were appearing on the presentation. I still don't know how I got it to finally work, but it did. This is the link to the Prezi that I built. Hope you enjoy it. http://prezi.com/bfyr3zjl8rbv/etc-567-web-20-tool/

Mindtools for learning

OpenOffice is a multifunctional tool that is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. This one program contains a word processor, presentation software, spreadsheet software, a drawing template, and allows for databases. It contains many of the same toolbars and can do many of the same things that Microsoft can do, and the best part, it is free for anybody with an internet conection to download! Hey school budget and technology people, stop spending tons of money for the rights to use Microsoft products when this one is absolutely free.

Kidspiration 3 is obviously designed for younger elementary school kids. It uses visuals to teach kids about everything from math, to science, even writing. One of the science projects has the kids classify animals into groups; insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles, then write about why each animal goes in their specific group. This is a great way to meld technology and education.

Inspiration 9 is designed for much older students. This program basically provides templates that allow students to construct things like diagrams, concept maps, and outlines. It is meant to be used by all of the major school subjects and even comes with some pre-loaded maps that students can fill in. I looked at one that differenciates between plant and animal cells. This program will allow for some creativity on the students part and also would force them to think and learn on their own.

XMind is a tool build to be used on team based projects. This program allows users to brainstorm together and map out what they will be doing. The best part is that users can connect over the internet, which means they never actually have to meet face to face to get work done. This program could be great for online courses, but would be difficult to do in a public school because not every student has internet at home.