Visual Thinking

I've never really considered myself a "visual learner." I've always been more of a words and numbers kind of guy. Visual representations never really made as much sense to me as a good old-fashioned outline or a well-crafted essay. But I do like online collaboration tools so I approached this week's assignment - comparing and contrasting online mind-mapping tools - with an open mind.

I looked at Bubbl.us, Webspiration and MindMeister. All three allow users to create visual maps or graphic organizers for use in brainstorming and representing ideas, concepts and process flows. They all offer the ability to save, print and publish maps to blogs and websites and to work collaboratively online with others. 

Bubbl.us

Example from http://ca018.k12.sd.us/bubblus_example.htm

I found Bubbl.us to be quick to learn and easy to use. In fact, you can create a map without even creating an account. It is very versatile and I like the relational "family tree" structure and the fact that you can change colors and fonts to convey deeper levels of meaning.
The free account allows you to save 3 sheets at a time. For $3 per month you can save 10 sheets.
As a side note, I found out that this software was created by two students at UW Milwaukee.


Webspiration

Example from http://www.mywebspiration.com/examples 

According to the Webspiration website, "Visual thinking methodologies have been proven to increase understanding, improve retention and effectively communicate information." Seems like reason enough to check out this resource.
Webspiration seems like a feature-rich tool that would take some time to learn. The Beta version out now allows users to create a free account and start using the product right away.
I like that you can export maps as Word documents or directly into Google Docs. The website offers a clear introduction and explanation of the concept of visual thinking and several really good examples to give you an idea of the many uses of the software for business, academic and personal use. Webspiration will also let you add notes and convert your mind map to a text outline.

MindMeister
Perhaps the most intriguing of the three tools I looked at is MindMeister. The free version only allows you to save 3 mind maps, but for $18 a year you can get an academic subscription that allows you to 

Example from http://www.mindmeister.com/3365188/notes-from-get-rid-of-e-mail

save an unlimited number of maps. Again, I like that you can work collaboratively and exports maps as pdf documents and publish them to blogs and websites. I particularly like that you can access your mind maps on a mobile device because I love being able to get work done on my phone when I don't have easy access to a computer. I also like and the ability to create and work on maps offline as well.
The business applications for meeting management, project planning and presentations would be particularly useful for me, and I could see our students using MindMeister as a note taking and archiving tool.

Learning Strategies

As far as the learning strategies we discussed this week go, I understand the significant benefits for students in the classroom and the challenges for teachers in incorporating technology tools in implementing them. The challenge for me has been to examine these strategies and see if they can be applied to what I do.

Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers
One of the critical components of successful online learning is new student orientation. iQ Academy employs a mix of virtual and face to face orientation strategies. Using cues, questions and advance organizers may be a way to increase understanding and retention of the concepts presented during orientation.

Nonlinguistic Representation
Staff development is important in every learning environment, but it is particularly important in a virtual school where informal collaboration happens less frequently since teachers are not in the same building every day. There may be ways to incorporate nonlinguistic representation in the staff development program. The technology tools that allow online collaboration could be especially useful when SD sessions are held virtually. There may also be an opportunity to use nonlinguistic representation when meeting with prospective new families to explain the concepts behind online learning.

Summarizing and Note Taking
I participate in a number of virtual meetings and conference calls each week. Incorporating some of the summarizing and note taking strategies - particularly the technology based tools like MindMeister - could be useful for me personally to keep track of all the projects I am involved in.