23 July 2009

Collaborative Visual Outlining (Comapping)


Mind mapping or concept mapping tools have been around for awhile and many have suggested that they can improve learning by up to 15% (over conventional note taking). Comapping is a tool that I have recently discovered and it was love at first site. This is a really easy tool for creating outlines. Rearrange nodes (items) in your outline is a simple as drag and drop. You can expand or collapse the children of a node. Part of the tool's cool factor is the ability to attach files (images, .doc, videos) to any node. You can also format nodes with traditional formatting tools (bold, italic, color) and turn a node into a link.


click to view screenshot

For a great resource for using tools like Comapping, check out the book
Visual Tools for Transforming Information into Knowledge

Visual Tools for Transforming Information Into Knowledge
by David Hyerle


Update ... I came across a post "50 Useful Mind-Mapping Tools for College Students" which shows that there are lots of choices in the Mind-Mapping/Visual Outlining space.

20 July 2009

Imagination Cubed

Imagination Cubed is a chance to explore your collaborative creativity or use sketches to further illustrate a point. I've used the site to both have fun with students in creating strange pictures and scenes and to show the steps in solving an equation during an online review session.

The sight allows you to combine text, predesigned shapes and stamps, and freestyle drawings, with multiple users (up to 3 at once) contributing to the finished project. Once you've completed your drawing, you can save the image online and send the link via email to yourself or others.

Have fun!