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 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.

Yack With Your Students

YackPack is "voice email" or an asynchronous conference call where all conversations are recorded for reviewing later. A demo is far better for getting to know YackPack.

YackPack has great potential for education. In fact, one of the founders has a day job as a research at Stanford who also teaches (occasionally) in the School of Education. You learn more about using YackPack in education.

This is my second look at YackPack. I was really excited back in 2007 when I learned of YackPack, but never incorporated it into my life. I think this is going change as I can already see multiple ways of using this technology. I will give you an update in six months from now.

PS - if you want to read more about YackPack check out this overview.

Wikipedia Goes Multimedia

Yes - Wikipedia does generate a wonderful debate with regard to its use in education. But few would argue that it is a remarkable resource and at least a good starting point for research.

In this world of media-rich websites, is Wikipedia's primarily text-based content becoming "passé"? A new site - Navify - has taken Wikipedia and attached pictures, videos, and even user comments to selected articles.

BTW - Navify is in beta testing and I is offline today. It was written up in TechCrunch which might explain why it has gone offline - too many requests to handle.

A Box for all Your Files

There are lots of options for sharing files with colleagues. Probably the most common is sending the file via email. I often send myself files I may need when I am away from my office computer. That way, I can login to my email account and download the document.

But there is a better way! What I love about Box.net is its simplicity. It really is just a box for your stuff. You can create folders, upload files, and access them anywhere. The free version gives you 1GB of space - more than enough to store all your handouts, tests, and other documents.

Your box is more than just a storage bin. You can share folders with others - either for viewing or for collaboration. You (and collaborators) can add comments on any file. You can send the file to anyone or you can create a link to the file making the file accessible to anyone with the url. At anytime, you can "unshare" the file.

The more you explore Box.net, the more features you discover. Today, I found that you can add "openbox services" to your box. For example, I added eFax service which allows me to fax any document to anyone --- FREE.

There is a paid version of the service which extends the file space (15GB), provides faster uploads, and offers access to your files from your phone.