Tech Review #1-Inspiration Software

Inspiration is a multi-faceted webbing application. It has many uses and can be used in any content area. It is produced by Inspiration Software, Inc. The software comes as a stand alone, integrated into a suite, InspireData, and as a primary grade version, Kidspiration. All three versions are available for a free thirty day trial period so you can decide which one best suits your needs. A key feature of the software allows the user to transfer the finished graphic organizer into Word, both as a graphic and in outline form.

Some of the key words and phrases are diagram, differentiate, outline and relationship. The primary goal of the software is to offer students the opportunity to organize their thinking into presentable products. The software’s flexibility allows students to arrange their web diagram in any manner they choose. It also has an icon feature that allows the user to replace the traditional oval or rectangle icon with a graphic or picture icon, allowing students to visually represent their ideas. The icons also allow students to differentiate one idea from another, making it easy to visually separate differences in information.

This type of software allows students to fully explore PBL projects and more easily understand difficult problems. It lets them arrange information in a manner that is meaningful to them. Because this software allows this type of individual flexibility, students are more apt to dig deeper during inquiry-based learning projects and approach the synthesis level of learning. When students reach this level of learning, they are more likely to take responsibility for their education, which will result in them learning more.

I feel this software is extremely valuable to educators in all content areas. It allows teachers to integrate technology into their classes at a higher level of usage rather than the “tool”, used to create a report. A student can look at relationships not found by simply writing a paper or giving an oral report and have a much more meaningful learning experience. Because the graphic organizer can be transferred to Word as a graphic, teachers can make hand-outs or overheads for guided learning experiences. In addition, the graphic can be transferred in separate pictures, to be organized it into brochures, flash cards or even PowerPoint to present one element at a time. The ease of use of the software will allow a large number of students to use the software, possibly allowing for the creation of a web in as little as ten minutes. This makes application feasible for large class settings.

The application also allows for the integration of audio and video, giving teachers the ability to create presentations that cover multiple learning styles. While webbing has been primarily thought of by teachers as a pre-writing tool, using this program and the accompanying lesson plan templates will help modify this school of thought and allow teachers to more easily integrate technology into all content areas technology. The software web page also has a standard match feature that highlights specific state standards and lists the templates that teach these standards. The ease of use, many available templates, and standards matches are especially helpful for teachers that do not have access to many computers or those that are not as comfortable using technology.

Using this application or similar applications allows students to follow most of the NETS. The freedom and flexibility the software offers meets the first standard, creativity and innovation. Students can arrange information to suit their liking, and, because they feel more comfortable with their own method of organization, can more effectively communicate their ideas. This meets NETS standard two. The ability to look at relationships between items and evaluate this relationship follows NETS standard three. The critical thinking used to synthesize collected data and arrange it into a web is presented in NETS standard four. This software is very useful for incorporating the NETS into all curriculums, allowing seamless integration for many projects or assignments.

The Inspiration software is true to its’ name. It is an inspired mindtool that makes learning easier, more fun, and relevant to students. It allows students to apply different learning styles to their projects and also allows them to freely organize their thoughts. As a teaching tool, it gives teachers a powerful means of delivering instructing to students. It allows for individualized lesson planning, with the ability to edit and modify the transferred graphic organizers. It also gives teachers an easy means to create guided learning opportunities. The accompanying templates make integrating the technology simple and fun. The software can be found at www.inspiration.com. There are links available for the trial downloads, the sample lessons, the standards matches and much more. The page is well-designed, with many pictures and easy-to-read features lists and easy to navigate.