I am a visual learner. When taking notes growing up, I was forever creating boxes to hold the ideas and draw arrows to connect the ideas that were forged in classroom lectures and conversations. It is for this reason that I loved Inspiration when I first saw it back in 1990. A great program to begin to visually brainstorm and think.

Inspiration is limited in that it does not allow for site licensing and you cannot collaborate on a document or easily share it with others. Enter Gliffy (gliffy.com), a web 2.0 application which allows you to create concept or mind maps via a web browser, allow others to collaborate, and share the results with other users. Like many web 2.0 applications, you can take view and revert to older versions of the document if someone makes changes that you do not like. It allows you to create floor plans, flow charts, and use basic symbols.

Gliffy does not have the wide range of symbols and icons. It does not have a rapid fire mode which is great for group brainstorming. It also does not have the ability to turn your diagram into an outline. However for the value ($0 vs. $45 per license), the ability to run it on any computer with Internet access, and the ability to collaborate, it is a viable alternative to consider.

I was made aware of this tool from Tim Wilson in his blog, the Savvy Technologist – Assignment Calculator 2.0

Both students and adults have difficulty breaking down a long-range project into smaller, more discrete steps. However, using this new online tool developed by both the Minnesota Educational Media Organization (MEMO) and MINITEX, a program of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the University of Minnesota will help all who have need for help planning for such a project.

The Research Project Calculator allows for a user to begin planning. Once on the site, a user can fill out the details of their project, their name, the class they are doing this for, their email address, and whether they are working on a PowerPoint, a video, or an essay. At this point, they are asked the date to begin the project and then date the project needs to be completed by.

Once this information has been submitted, the student is given five steps, with goal dates and questions to answer about to help guide them through their project. The steps are, given for a sample video project:

Step 1: Question

• What do you know about your assignment?
• What do you know about your topic?
• What do you want to know?
• What’s the question or problem you will focus on?

By Monday, September 24, 2007,

Write a specific research question or hypothesis.

Step 2: Gather

• About this step
• Where will you look for information?
• What keywords will you use?
• How will you identify the best sources?
• How will you record what you find?
• How will you give credit to your sources?

By Thursday, September 27, 2007,

Create an annotated bibliography and record notes from sources.

Step 3: Conclude

• What did you learn from reading, listening, and viewing?
• How will you organize the information you found to answer your question or defend your hypothesis?

By Friday, September 28, 2007,

Confirm thesis and outline main points.

Step 4: Communicate

• Documentary Video
• Storyboard
• Script/Shot list
• Create visuals
• Rehearse and shoot
• Edit
• Preview
• Export

By Saturday, September 29, 2007,

Prepare final video.

Step 5: Evaluate

• How did you do?
• How can you improve next time?

By Sunday, September 30, 2007,

Complete evaluation of process and product

Students using this tool are given the opportunity to either print the schedule or email it to themselves. This looks like a promising tool that will help our students plan for long-term projects. I have begun to use it to help me break a few long-range projects that I have coming up in the next few month.

Give it a test drive and see.