ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Join me on Thursday, November 8th as I share with the MindManager Community ways that I have been using MindManager 7 Pro in and out of the classroom. There is a link below to register for this webinar which is being hosted by Mindjet, Inc. Hope to see you there. Brian

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Upcoming Webinar: “Innovate using MindManager Pro 7 both in and out of the Classroom”

Innovate using MindManager Pro 7 both in and out of the Classroom

Guest Speaker: Dr. Brian S. Friedlander

Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007

Time: 10:00 am PST / 1:00 pm EST

Join us for an engaging webinar with Dr. Friedlander, an author, professor and assistive technology specialist who will share the benefits of using mind mapping software in and out of the classroom. You’ll see firsthand how Dr. Friedlander uses MindManager Pro 7 to develop, organize and deliver his classroom lectures, as a presentation tool and to develop, organize and format proposals.

In the webinar, find out how using MindManager Pro 7 will make you more effective and provide your students with a more visual way to access and comprehend the information you’re presenting to them. At the end of this webinar you’ll walk away with the knowledge and power of how to use MindManager Pro 7 to engage the entire classroom.

Register Now

NovaMind has announced the release of NovaMind 4 Platinum for Mac. NovaMind Platinum contains all the features of NovaMind Pro, plus it has resource handling, resource allocation, resource indicators, drag and drop addition of resources and resource groups from Address book, task allocation, task settings, task and resource reporting, screenwriting capabilities, and the NovaMind Presenter and various other additional features.

The NovaMind Presenter has the capability to make smooth presentations from your Mind Maps and works with either a single screen, or two screens or a screen and projector, and also works with the Apple remote. Please see the documentation for further information about the capabilities of the Presenter.

You can download NovaMind 4 Platinum by going to our downloads page: http://www.nova-mind.com/Downloads/

If you want to find out how to get the most out of your mind mapping software then you should take a look at Chuck Frey's ebook:

Power Tools & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software-Second Edition ,which has a wealth of strategies and best practices when using mind mapping software. If you are interested in the book then you will want to take advantage of his special offer of $9.95 for one week only. The offer ends Oct 1, 2007. Click on the link below or on the side panel to get to his website.

e Mind Mapping Software Weblog: Price reduced on my new e-book for one week only

Google today officially launched its presentation tool that rounds out Google Docs and Spreadsheet. Now it is possible to create a slide presentation and view it on the web or have others collaborate on it. Google Present allows you to upload your PowerPoint presentations that can then be modified or viewed on the web. Pretty cool! What a great tool for classrooms and business folks who need to collaborate or publish the presentation to the web. I hope to be able to look at it more carefully from what I see it looks like Google has hit a home run with their online suite of applications.

Chuck Frey who is noted for the work he has done in the area of mind mapping emailed me today to share with me that he has launched a new survey which focuses on the use of web based mind mapping applications. If you have used any of the web based mind mapping applications please take the time to complete the survey by clicking on the link below.
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During the last year, web-based mind mapping applications have grown significantly in their level of functionality and popularity. To better understand how people are utilizing these tools and what their potential impact is likely to be, I've decided to conduct a brief survey on this technology. This survey covers issues such as:

- Which tool offers the best functionality?
- What features matter most to you?
- What are the biggest benefits of web-based mind mapping tools?
- What are the shortcomings of this emerging technology?
- What is the future of this cool technology?
- And more!

Please take a few minutes to complete this brief, 12-question survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=y_2f0R2yPy1JeqSRO79fDCyA_3d_3d

I look forward to your thoughts and opinions!

Chuck Frey
chuck@innovationtools.com
The Mind Mapping Software Blog
http://mindmapping.typepad.com
InnovationTools

I have been a big fan of Anoto functionality and its implementation in the Fly Fusion Pentop Computer which was recently released by LeapFrog. One of the features which I was most interested in looking at was the ability to transfer your handwritten notes and transfer them into Microsoft Word as a text file. Unfortunately, the Fly Fusion Pentop only works with the Windows operating system. Once you install the Fly Fusion Pentop computer software you are ready to give it a try. Simply click on the Fly Notes icon and open your Fly Notebook and begin writing. I have tried the Fly Fusion Pentop with both print and cursive and it worked quite well. It is important to note that you must use the Fly Fusion Notebook when using the pen. Once you have written your notes you simply plug your pen into the computer with the supplied USB cable and your notes are downloaded to the Fly Fusion Pentop application. Once downloaded you can transfer them to Microsoft Word with a click of the mouse. The handwriting recognition worked exceptionally well. This is certainly a viable alternative for note taking and a way for students to catalog and store their notes digitally. One of the advantages of this system is the ability to search your notes on the computer and to be able to convert them to text for further editing. Give it a try and let me know what you think. At $79 dollars this is a very worthwhile tool and one that has lots of application in the classroom.

In this video I will show you how easy it is to use a Pie Graph to analyze the data from the eSurvey that was published on the web using InspireData 1.5. Click on the first video in the Screencast Media roll to see a demonstration of how easy it is to use. I also show you how you can use the SlideShow feature built into InspireData 1.5.

I have been playing around with the eSurvey feature in InspireData 1.5 for the past couple of days and have used it to launch a survey for this blog. I have posted a Blog Survey to the web that you can complete that was done entirely with InspireData 1.5. When you click on the link you will be prompted to enter a six digit code. The code is 209062. The information will be helpful to me- so give it a try and let me know what you think.

I have included a Screencast Media Roll widget that shows you just how easy it is to publish, enter, and retrieve your eSurvey results right from within InspireData 1.5. To view the screencasts just click on the icon in the widget below. Enjoy!

Here is a Press Release from CS Odessa about the the release of ConceptDraw Project 4 for Macintosh and Windows. I hope to do a review of the program in the future and look at the integration with ConceptDraw MindMap 5.

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Odessa, Ukraine, September 13, 2007 – CS Odessa today announced the general availability of ConceptDraw Project 4 for Macintosh and Windows. The newest release of ConceptDraw Project 4 project management software is designed to plan and track a wide range of projects simultaneously and to accurately allocate and manage any shared resources between all supervised projects. Also added to Project 4 is a “Resource Usage View”, enhanced Microsoft Project compatibility, a redesigned tabular project interface and a number of commonly requested usability improvements.

The addition of “Resource Usage View” in Project 4 permits project managers to quickly ascertain an accurate view of resource loading and task allocation for each available resource. Project 4 represents the project data in a clear, compelling visual presentation displaying a color-coded representation of resource usage; possible areas of potential resource misalignment are highlighted for clear viewing. “Resource Usage View” is an essential tool for quickly finding over and under allocated workers and then being able to precisely balance against the project requirements.

The ConceptDraw Project user interface has undergone some important changes in version 4, providing even quicker navigation between projects and different status views, these changes dramatically speed up the task of project management. With Project 4 tasks and resources contained in all projects are clearly laid out making it easier to supervise each individual project as well as all the projects contained in the manager’s portfolio. These user interface changes have been introduced in Project 4 to make project operations easier and faster for both beginner and experienced users.

ConceptDraw Project 4 is an Universal Binary application and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or greater to run. All purchasers of ConceptDraw Project 3 from August 15, 2007 until ship date are eligible to receive a no cost upgrade to ConceptDraw Project 4.

ConceptDraw Project 4 is available at the price of $199 USD at:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/purchase/project/main.php?utm_source=pressrelease&utm_medium=4.0&utm_term=release&utm_campaign=PRJ

Volume purchase discounts, educational and non-profit pricing is also available. More information about ConceptDraw Project 4 and

Here is a new way to display your screencasts if you are using Camtasia Studio and Screencast.com. This is a pretty neat widget that shows a list of the screencasts that you have created. Let me know what you think.

Earlier this month, I posted a review of InspireData and shared with you just how innovative and well designed this application is. Well to top it off, Inspiration, Inc. just released InspireData 1.5, a free upgrade from InspireData 1.0. With InspireData 1.5 it is now possible to create surveys and post them to the web with a click of the mouse. Inspiration has done a great job of implementing this feature so that students and teachers can post their surveys to the web and have others with the link and code complete the survey on with a browser. When the publisher of the survey is ready they can end the session and then access the data right from within InspireData 1.5. Combining the data analysis tools within InspireData 1.5 with the ability to do online surveys makes this the perfect tool for project based learning and collaboration across the web. In no time you will be thinking of creative ways to use InspireData 1.5 for all kinds of cross curricular projects. If you have InspireData 1.0 then point your browser to the Inspiration web site to download the updater-you won't be sorry you did. InspireData 1.5 is one piece of software that can open all kinds of doors to learning.

I have posted a Blog Survey to the web that you can complete that was done entirely with InspireData 1.5. When you click on the link you will be prompted to enter a six digit code. The code is 209062. The information will be helpful to me so give it a try and let me know what you think. Thanks

Just the other day I needed to put together a business proposal for one of the schools that I will be consulting to. The proposal included both the purchase of software as well as on-going professional development for the special education teachers. I needed in the proposal to breakdown the cost of the software that would be used by each of the teachers as well as the cost for professional development. Each of the classroom would need to use different software and the amount of professional development varied by classroom. I had already put together an Excel spreadsheet with all of the pricing for the software and was now ready to write up the proposal when it dawned on me why don't I try to use MindManager Pro 7 to develop the proposal.

Over the last week or so I have the opportunity to try out ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC from CS Odessa. The program is very pleasing to the eye and has many features which makes it easy to use. I found the interface to be very straightforward and without so much as cracking open the manual I was creating some fairly complex mind maps. When you first start ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC you are presented with the Startup Dialog box with a choice of several options. You can start your mind map from a template or just jump in with a blank mind map. If you prefer you could also have ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC open up a new outline for you. One of the really nice features is the Brainstorming mode. Simply click on Brainstorm icon and set your timer for the session length and begin to record your ideas. Once you have finished your brainstorming session you can drag your ideas and link them any way that you want. For those individuals who may not be familiar to mind mapping the Startup Dialog is a good place to begin. More advanced users can decide not to show the Startup Dialog by going into the Preferences within the application.

Once ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC is open you start with the Main idea centrally located on the screen. Start typing your Main Idea and then press the Enter key to have new ideas shoot off radially around the main topic. Adding subtopics can be accomplished with the keyboard or by clicking on the Insert icon on the toolbar. You can also add topics and subtopics by using the Freehand tool which lets you click and drag where you would like your topics and subtopics to appear on the map. If you would like to arrange you ideas differently around the Main Topic simply click on the Arrange icon to see your options. This is a nice touch which quickly will rearrange your ideas. Numbering your ideas is also quickly accomplished by clicking on the Auto Numeration icon. There are a couple of unique features which ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC brings to the table-that being able to view your mind map and outline together on the page. This is a very nice touch and one that I found helpful when doing business proposals. Of course you also have the ability to view the outline or mind map be itself on the screen if you choose to. Formatting your mind map is extremely easy with the advent of Map Themes. Simply click on the Map Themes icon and select from an assortment of map themes. In seconds your whole map will be reformatted using the color and shape themes. It is very easy to experiment and cycle through the formats until you get it the way you like.

ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC has an array of markers that can be added to your topics and subtopics as well as professionally drawn images that you can use to adorn your mind map. The images are all categorized and have a clean and neat modern look to them. It would be great if ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC had a search feature when looking for a specific image. Images can be scaled once they are placed in a topic or subtopic but it did take a little practice to get the hang as how to do it. The formatting of topics and lines is very easy accomplished using the Inspector. I found It very easy to use the Relationships tool to draw connections between topics. Using the inspector you can easily format the relationships to change the line width, color and determine if you want arrows to appear. ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC supports Floating topics as well as Callouts. The only thing that I found missing as far as formatting of the mind map in ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC was the ability to draw boundaries around topics and subtopics. I think that this is a feature that should be considered for a future release of this application.

ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC gives you a range of ways to link attachments to your topics and subtopics. You can attach files, web links, folders, emails, and topics to your mind maps by using the inspector. Once you have made an attachment ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC will show an icon to represent your attachment. Placing your mouse over the attachment icon will display a pop up dialog showing you your linking information. This is a really nice touch. Similarly, you can attach a note to any topic or subtopic which opens up the text note editor. Text can be stylized within the note using the Font inspector dialog box.

ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC can also be effectively used for project planning and allows one to enter task information for each topic or subtopic. One can record a Start Date, Use Due Date, as well as enter the Duration of the task and the Percentage of the task that is completed. Once you add Percentage of the task completed to a task you will see an icon on your map to correspond to the information entered. It is also possible to manually click on the Percentage completed icon in the mind map to change the data. Topics can also be sorted on the percentage complete task for quick review. You can also enter any Resources that are associated with the task. It is presumed that this data could be exported or opened with ConceptDraw Project or Microsoft Project for further analysis.

Since no mind mapping application is an island it is great to know that you can export your mind maps and outlines in different fie formats. It is now possible to export your mind maps to an image format, HTML, Microsoft Project, Microsoft PowerPoint. Exporting to Microsoft PowerPoint will be delivered next month in a scheduled upgrade release. Outlines can be exported to as well as TextOutline format, RTF, and OPML. There is also an export available which can send your mind maps and outlines to your iPod. CS Odessa will be releasing an upgrade which would allow MindManager users to import their mind maps.

ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC is a full featured mind mapping application for Macintosh OS X with a clean and easy to use interface. ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC is a powerful program with lots of nice touches and features. ConceptDraw MindMap 5 MAC certainly is a very competitive mind mapping application especially on the Macintosh platform. With the exception of boundaries and some minor subtle interface issues (resizing images) this is a worthwhile program to look at on the Macintosh platform. I would hope as we move to mind mapping 2.0 that all of the major publishers find a way for our mind maps to live on the web with an easy solution to publish and tag them from our desktop applications. Once on the web it should be easy for our invited colleagues to collaborate and work with the mind maps.

I have had the opportunity to use the PersonalBrain 4 for the past couple of weeks and have found it to be extremely useful for organizing my materials and ideas. I do want to thank Shelley, Harlan, and Matt at theBrain Technologies, LP for their help and giving me the opportunity to work with their fine product. In fact, I have been using the PersonalBrain 4 more and more to organize my ideas, for my blog and for my newsletter, Inclusion Times. One of the really neat features of the PersonalBrain which may be overlooked is the ability to export your brain and publish it on the web. From the File menu you simply select Export-- and then select Site Brain HTML with XML Data. The PersonalBrain 4 opens a dialog box and prompts you to save the exported files. Once the files have been transferred to your hard drive you simply upload them to your server and they are ready to go. What is really exciting is that all of your notes, URL links and documents can be accessed from within your PersonalBrain on the web. Within minutes ,I had my PersonalBrain 4 on the web. If you want to see one of my PersonalBrain’s on the web click here. Remember that all of the information is hyperlinked so that clicking on an item allows you to jump to related information. If there is a link or note or a file attached to the item you can click on it in the bottom portions of the screen to access it. Give it a try and let me know what you think. The PersonalBrain 4 is a great tool to quickly put up a website for a presentation or even for a class complete with links, documents and attachments.

It is hard to believe how many mind mapping applications are available today as both desktop and web applications. Chuck Frey just today posted information about a new mind mapping application called Cayra which is built on the Microsoft .NET framework. Read Chuck’s post about the feature set.

I just received this Update from Brad Allen with regard to TPAssist2007 which effected some users trying to use the Add-in with MindManager 6. The problem has been corrected and if you had attempted to download it earlier this week give it another try by downloading the update.
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I just recently posted a review of XMIND last month and am pleased to announce that XMIND 2008 will be released on September 30, 2008.



According to XMIND's website here is a list of the new features:

• 2D Charts
• Fishbone Maps
• Attachments of files and URL'S
• Audio Recording
• Presentation capabilities
• Search Topics from the Web within a mind map
  
• Poweer fitering capabilities
• Export to PDF/DOC/PPT

Take a look at the redesigned XMIND website for all the information and updates.

Just last week I was asked to do a hands on assistive technology workshop as a kick off for the school year. Since I was going to be using the computer lab and their SmartBoard to do the workshop I decided that I would use the school’s computer to do my presentation and demonstrate the software. As I was putting together the presentation I thought wow, I could use one of the on-line mind mapping applications as my presentation tool to show the teachers the features of the software and give them a good overview. I knew that I would have access to the Internet and thought that this strategy would work well with my audience. So I fired up Mindomo, logged on a started to develop my feature mind map. Mindomo is very easy to use and if you don’t look up at your browser you would swear that you are using a desktop application. The fluid ribbon interface looks great and it is easy to find the features that you are looking for. Within minutes, I had developed a comprehensive visual mind map to highlight all of the features of the software that I was introducing. After finishing the mind map I decided that it would make a great handout and decided to print it. This is where the process broke down. No matter what I did the quality of the printed copy looked fuzzy and not sharp enough for my standards. I tried exporting the mind map to png, jpeg, and PDF but still the quality was poor.

At this point I made an executive decision and decided to redo the mind map using MindManager Pro 7. I quickly redid the mind map and then printed it out on my new OkiData 6100n color printer. The outputted mind map looked crisp and clean and something that I could be proud to hand out to the teachers that I would be working with. So I printed off 20 mind maps and then was faced with the dilemma, how do I use this as part of my presentation? Looking at all of the alternatives I decided that I would download the MindManager 7 Viewer and install it on the Instructor’s computer and simply view it that way. So I downloaded the MindManager 7 Viewer and my mindmap and saved it to my USB drive. When I got to the school I quickly installed the MindManager 7 Viewer and was up and running. While this solution worked it took too much time on my part to make it happen.


As I was pondering this scenario for my blog, and I said to myself there has got to be a better way to handle these kinds of scenarios. It should be that you create it once, and are able to publish it as you see fit without the need to have a viewer or a plug-in. I for one hope that the publishers of mind mapping software begin to think about what mind mapping 2.0 looks like, so that we can create our visual mind maps with our desktop applications and they are automatically synchronized and pushed out to the web at our discretion. Once on the web, we should be able to have an environment so that we can modify, access, view and print them. I know for myself that having this functionality would have saved me a great deal of time.

I would be interested in your comments and ideas.

I recently stumbled across a new blog called MindMapping 2.0 which is written by Jonathan Sapir who has great insight into what needs be done to move from MindMapping 1.0 to MindMapping 2.0. Jonathan brings a great deal of experience and is author of
Igniting the Phoenix: A New Vision for IT.
Jonathan was also for a time was the Chief Technology Evangelist at SnapXT which is a collaborative tool that takes MindManager and turns it into a collaborative, updateable Web site. Look for an upcoming review of SnapXT