Coggle and Mindmapping

Coggle is not a Google app but it works with a Google Sign in. You can create simple mindmaps and share them with others. I can see students using this as a quick easy way of getting all their thoughts down, save as a PDF or a graphic and then uploading to Evernote, Google Docs or any other application. You cannot use it on an iPad in Safari but you can on the Chrome App. The Puffin app (Free or NZ$4.19 for iPad) will also allow you to add content on the iPad.

Oberservation Week 4 Holy Cross

Looking around the whole Year 5/6 class I could not see one single child who was not engaged. They were working in pairs using iPads and the PuppetPals app or computers. One child used her initiative and used the notes app to record her thoughts as she was creating in PuppetPal.





Later in the day they were making choices about how they were going to record their information. I introduced one child to Pic Collage, who then started teaching another.
I loved seeing the individual creativity that was coming out, they were choosing the digital tools they wanted to use.

 Sarah had extra students in her class today (40 in total). But still everybody worked well, with students moving between iPads and computers.
 These students were writing up important events that happened in the years since they were born. I told them about 'This day in history' and they were able to track events and complete their tasks.

Students were mindmapping their ideas so I introduced one group to Popplet. The teacher set up a class account. Students can do 5 different mindmaps before they need to delete them to make room for more. So another tool was added to their digital toolkit today 'Popplet'.

Developing Self Management

What has happened since last week?
Diane's class has been trying out some of the ideas from last week and the students have particularly liked the different ways of mindmapping.



Here is an example of their 'Writing on the Window'


And an example using Post-it Notes.




What did I notice today?

Students working on nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs using
Popplet on
 the computer (Individuals)
Writing on the IWB (Group)
Using Notes on the iPad (individuals and pairs)
Writing in Books.

 Comfortable Learning Zones with couches and comfy chairs.

Self managing and organising where we need to be by moving name labels to the device we are going to be using.


Sarah has the Year 7 & 8 students. She has noticed how quickly they learn new skills and then adapt them to their learning. She wants to try a flexible timetable with them where they have to self manage themselves. I noticed with their work throughout the day that some could get distracted, so we need to set up a self management continuum where students move their avatars to whichever expectation they are working at. These would be aligned to their learning goals and intentions and whatever expectations that have been set up  for the students to work from.

In my travels through lots of schools, I have noticed in classrooms when students get involved in a task, that they take no notice of time unless the teacher is prompting them '10 minutes to go!' etc. In longer tasks where they may have several days, students are used to being told by teachers where they should be up to. Recently, Sarah has been saying to the students when she has set a new task to be completed in one session, "You have 'x' amount of time, it is up to you to manage this time." She is finding that most students are improving their time management as they don't want to run out of time to finish their work.
It will be interesting to see how the 'Self management Continuum' will work, particularly as I think it will encourage students to revisit what they should be achieving in their tasks.

Comparing Embeddable Mindmapping software

I needed a Mindmap recently that would have hyperlinks to different sites. It also had to be readable and scrollable. Here are my efforts:

Webspiration was a little disappointing as it would not hyperlink when embedded. The links work when  you are in Webspiration. For ease of use, look, and ability to be creative I really like Webspiration but it falls down in the embedding. You can collaborate, upload Inspiration, download to Inspiration and you can publish on a webpage and access through a hyperlink, but you can't click on a hyperlink in the embedded document. See example below. All you can do is zoom in and out to view the document.


Result: Overall Features 8/10 Embed in blog/wiki 5/10

Mindmeister came up the best in embedding in a wiki/blog. It looks good, easy to navigate, simple to create map, graphics are limited, not much of a variety as Webspiration, but it did exactly what I wanted and that was to embed a diagram that hyperlinked. You can add notes and attachments and it can be collaborated on. It is also free, but you can upgrade for a price to a more sophisticated product with more features. Hover over the links and you will see thumbnails of the websites.


Result: Overall Features 8/10 Embed in blog/wiki 10/10

Wise Mapping is the third mind map I looked at. It is very similar to Mindmeister in all of the features. There is quite a range of colours, you can add notes and others can collaborate on it as well. There are limited graphics. It embeds easily enough but I didn't choose it as the one to go on my wiki as it is difficult to manipulate and view. Mindmeister was clearer and easier to view.



Result: Overall Features 7/10 Embed in blog/wiki 8/10

So my main choice was Mindmeister, the others had merits but Mindmeister was far ahead as the choice to use an embeddable hyperlinking mindmap.

aMap: Create online arguments

Create your own arguments in aMap and embed into a blog or a wiki. As you add to your argument you are guided by keyword starters. Once you have stated your position you are directed to a window where you have to add your name and email. This would probably be better for older students who have their own email addresses as everybody who adds to the argument are directed to put in their details. This is still a fairly new programme and they are still fixing bugs so it will be interesting to see how it develops. I have put in a recommendation for password protection to protect arguments that students are writing.



R rating: none that I could find

bubbl.us Online collaborative mindmapping

bubbl.us is an online mindmapping tool that can be embedded into blogs, wikis and websites. It can be created online, saved, printed and other people can be invited to add to it. It can also be exported as a image so it can be inserted into wordprocessing documents. Once it is embedded use your mouse to click and drag the diagram around, use the scroll button on your mouse to zoom in and out. Try this out on the example below.