Thinking Tools

All students learn differently. Educators have the difficult task of facilitating and supporting learning for the wide range of learning styles present in their classrooms. Inspiration is a software package that uses visual learning to to build comprehension, writing and thinking skills.

One of the uses of Inspiration is to make Concept Maps and Mind Maps. Using Inspiration 8.0 IE, I made this Concept Map:

Concept maps are diagrams that represent relationships between concepts. In the above map I've attempted to show the links between 'real' and 'imaginary' animals. Concept Maps made using Inspiration can also include hyperlinks and audio files. Unlike mind maps, concept maps don't need to have a conceptual centre, so they are especially useful for linking ideas.

Inspiration can also be used to make Mind Maps. Here's one I prepared earlier:

Mind Maps tend to have a central idea. In my example, it's 'knowledge'. Like concept maps, mind maps organize ideas and can often generate more ideas.

Using Inspiration in the Classroom

The use of Inspiration would be especially valuable for visual or spatial learners. According to the White Paper prepared for Inspiration Software:

Visual learning has been shown to improve:
• Reading comprehension
• Student achievement across grade levels, diverse student populations and
content areas
• Thinking and learning skills such as organizing and communicating ideas,
seeing patterns and relationships, and categorizing ideas
• Retention

So how could we, as educators, successfully incorporate software such as Inspiration into our classrooms? I think the visual representation of ideas would be especially valuable to use in integrated units, where a central theme is explored through many disciplines. The software could be used for students to explore their prior knowledge before a unit begins. Mind mapping is already a commonly used medium to engage with ideas before a unit begins, and Inspiration could easily be used for this purpose. As the unit progresses, concept or mind maps could be used to show the relationship between, and organise, the ideas covered.