Friday, March 19, 2010

Online Tools Review

The first tool I reviewed was bubbl.us. I found this product very simple and easy to use. The product the user can produce is a neat and clean map. Its simplicity is also its worst feature. It does not have the ability to add graphics to the design. While this is not always necessary it would be a nice feature.

The next tool was Mindmeister. This product was also very easy to use and produced nice, clean maps. The basic account is limited in its features. Users can only create and share up to 3 maps. By upgrading to the premium account, users get the ability to upload and use files and images and can create maps offline. The cost for the premium account is $59/year.

The third site I checked out was Education Oasis. This site has a number of different graphic organizers that can be downloaded. These are not organizers that you can use online but rather files that can be downloaded. There are a quite a few different types of graphic organizers for many different uses. This is one tool that almost all teachers can use and they do not have to have the a lot of computer experience.
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 20, 2010 at 1:32 PM

    Hi Mike,

    Yes, bubbl.us would be a little better if you could add graphics, I agree. The others all have their good/bad points. How would you use one of these in the classroom? I'm trying to think of how I could use this with a classroom of teacher on a SMART board!

    Thanks!

    mary

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  2. ReslerMarch 21, 2010 at 9:55 AM

    I didn't get to look at the Education Oasis site but from your description it sounds like something that might be helpful to use so that you don't have to deal with a lot of technology issues up front. I know the idea is getting the students to use the technology but if they get familiar with the format first then bringing in the technology might make the transition from typical note taking a bit easier.

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  3. Mike WaldvogelMarch 21, 2010 at 12:16 PM

    Bubbl.us was one of the resources I reviewed also. I agree that the lack of graphics could lose some of the students who enjoy doing that. However, the ease of use was pretty good and you can get in and get out quite quickly. Some of the other resources would require more time but probably not accomplish anything more. At least that is the way I look at it.

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  4. Mrs. TahtinenMarch 22, 2010 at 5:20 PM

    I agree that Bubbl.us is limited in its' simplicity. I too think that other software it just as easy to use and having some additional features would come in handy. I guess if you want to limit customization time, it might be a good choice.

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