TotSplash - organize and present ideas

TotSplash is a new site that combines online mind mapping and "Prezi-like" presentations.

Users can focus on organizing their thoughts and ideas and then the app transforms them into a "Prezi-like" presentation. You can share and embed your TotSplashes also.

There is a free version with no login required.

It's easy to use and could be a great alternative for students and teachers.

Read More

Pegby - free online notes, tasks, organizing, mindmapping, outlining and more

Pegby is an interesting site that lets you get materials and information organized online and even work with others on it.

You create Boards that allow you to work online, collaborating with others or just organizing things for yourself. Each Board can have columns to help you organize the Cards in each Board. The card is a kind of post it note that you title and add descriptions to. The Cards go in Columns on the Board. You can even Stack Cards on top of each other to organize them together. You can also Tag and Filter your Boards to make it easier to work with.

It's a great way to organize notes, tasks, and other information. It's also a great way to organize your thoughts (mindmapping) and you can use it to outline research and papers.

This is a very useful tool for educators and students to use.


Check it out and share it with your students and colleagues: https://www.pegby.com/home/view

Read More

instaGrok - awesome education search, curation, and journal site

instaGrok is a interesting site I just learned about. instaGrok's tagline is "A New Way to Learn" and they define "grok (v): to understand thoroughly and intuitively".

instaGrok is a type of search engine that finds educational content and retrieves it in multiple formats, including web pages, images, videos and even forums. It filters out non-educational content and profanity, uses crowd sourcing to rate the quality of each search result, displays search results according to grade level difficulty, provides source notes, visualizes concepts in an interactive concept map, updates the concept map as you refine your topic. It also allows curation and tracking of your websites, concepts, student activities, and can generate multiple-choice questions from the search results. Students can use it to create editable research journals ("groks") and the groks will be populated with websites visited and the concepts covered. Teachers can review the students' groks and add comments.

Here's an instaGrok search for "Heat Capacity". The search results are shown in the concept map, and as you click on each circle, it opens up more results. The right side menu has key facts, websites, videos, images, quizzes, and concepts. In less than 5 seconds, I have an incredible amount of information and resources on heat capacity that I can use with my students. Students can quickly do searches and find relevant information and resources on any topic.

Here's a summary of features and results:

It's a very cool way to do research and curate and share the results. 


instaGrok: http://www.instagrok.com/

Read More

6 free MindMapping Apps/Services for education

Mindmapping is a great way to organize thoughts, ideas, writing, projects, meetings and much more. Here are six free mindmapping apps and services that educators and students can use.

Slatebox - presentation, mind-mapping, and more -  Slatebox is a free tool that you can use to create presentations, mind maps, organize thoughts, and much more. You can create different slates (notes/items) and link and organize them.

Popplet - online presentation, mindmapping, and bulletin board -   Popplet is a unique combination of presentation tool, mindmapping, and online bulletin board. It is easy to use and a fun way to create.

MindMeister - online mind mapping and brain storming - Mindmeister is an online mind mapping and brain storming site that allows users to create and share mind maps

Spicynodes - visualize and organize information and resources -  Spicynodes is a visualization service that allows you to create nodes of information, links, text, photos, and other media and then link the nodes together in a way that makes sense. It can be used for mind maps, organizational charts, and even lesson plans.

Bubbl.us - online brainstorming for free -  Bubbl.us is a free, web application that allows you to brainstorm online. It is easy to use and you can use it to create mind maps, outlines of papers and projects, meeting notes, and much more.

Thoughtboxes - organize everything you do - great resource for education -  Thoughtboxes is a free site that allows you to get organized using boxes that act like sticky notes. You can create categories and then create "thoughtboxes" in each category.

Mindomo - brainstorming and mindmapping software - Mindomo is a brainstorming and mindmapping software that helps you organize thoughts, plan events and projects, and even explain concepts

Read More