Literacy with ICT
Inspiration - A Guide For Getting Started
Have you tried the program Inspiration yet? Inspiration is very powerful concept-mapping software that will prove to be a very useful application to use in the classroom. With Inspiration, you can create a permanent record of your brainstorming sessions. Furthermore, with Inspiration, students can use their creative and critical thinking skills to create a visual picture of what they understand and how they understand it...
To launch Inspiration, click on the icon on the lower left edge of your dock:
Next, enter in the main idea for the concept that you wish to map in the central bubble. When your cursor is flashing after the name of the main topic, turn on the Rapidfire tool by clicking on it:
The Rapidfire tool allows you to create a new suptopic in your concept map everytime you push the enter key!
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In this example, the main topic is colours and each of the subtopics represents a different colour.
In working through this example with students, you could extend the concept map to include examples of objects that would fit into each colour category.
Concept maps can be extended to include a wealth of information, and your students can use this technique to record their understanding of curricular outcomes... they can create artifacts to demonstrate their learning :-) |
Changing the styles and colours of your objects will make your concept map look more visually appealling. Your students can use this opportunity to showcase their creativity and find a way to visually represent information on any given topic...
Regardless of the grade you teach or the subject areas that you teach, Inspiration can become a very useful application for you and your students to use in the classroom!
