I think that we have all come to realize that using visuals is a great way to communicate ideas and processes. This is especially true when we need to communicate a series of steps to complete a process. While words and step by step directions can help us understand the process,I have found that for most students as well as adults having that visual support is a great way to ensure that everyone is on the same page and understands the steps needed to accomplish the task. I just recently was working with a school that will be utilizing the Boogie Board RIP to take digital notes and while using the Boogie Board RIP is a fairly easy, there are some important steps involved to do use it correctly so that the notes are recorded properly. Rather than write a long list of step by step directions, I decided to use Inspiration 9.1 to create  a visual that would explain the process. Having access to tools like Inspiration makes it easy for teachers to create great looking visuals that can explain complex processes. If you have Inspiration take it out and give it a try the next time you have to explain a complex step of directions or process!

It is exciting to watch as software publishers are rolling out software that take advantage of each of the respective platforms and in the process creating some powerful workflows. Such is the case for Inspiration 9.1 on the desktop and Inspiration Maps on the iPad. If you have Inspiration 9 installed on your computer and are using Inspiration Maps on your iPad, I would strongly suggest updating your desktop application to version 9.1. I recently did a presentation to administrators on how they can use Evernote to organize their workflow in the cloud and used an Inspiration Map to visually demonstrate the uses. I was able to quickly accomplish this task by opening Inspiration 9.1 on my laptop and creating the map. Since I used web based graphics in my map it was a lot easier to create the map using my computer. When I was done using Inspiration on my laptop, I simply went to the File Menu and selected Export to iPad Inspiration Maps... This automatically saved it to my DropBox account and when I went to my iPad and opened Inspiration Maps, I could open the map. It was really that simple. This solution really leveraged the strengths of both platforms and when I was ready to present to the administrators, all I needed to do was open the it from my iPad. It was really that easy!

If you follow my blog then you know that just how important using mind mapping and graphic organizers is to me. I can remember seeing a demo of Inspiration 2.0 for the first time at an educational technology conference some time ago, and when I watched the view change from graphic organizer to outline view with a click of the mouse if was a real epiphany. From time on I was a changed man, and have been using Inspiration ever since, in the work that I do with students with learning disabilities. It is always really exciting for me to work with teachers and watch them as I demonstrate how to use Inspiration in the classroom. As soon as I teach them the basics you could see the lights go on as they are thinking of all the ways they could use it in the classroom. As schools begin to transition to a "post PC" world it was great that late last spring that Inspiration announced the release of Inspiration Maps for the iPad. Inspiration Maps brings the best of what Inspiration has to offer to the iPad with an extremely easy to use interface. Using Inspiration Maps day in and day out with students, I am always amazed how quickly they catch on and can jump right into the program. The folks at Inspiration did a wonderful job of translating their excellent program to the iPad without sacrificing what the program does best.

When you first open Inspiration Maps you are greeted with a Starter screen that lets you pick a graphic organizer from an assortment of templates that gets you into the process very quickly. Users of Inspiration will find many of their favorite templates still available on the iPad that are ideal of Social Studies, English, and Science. Many of the students that I work with find the touch interface to be easy to navigate and within minutes feel very comfortable using the program. Once students are introduced to RapidFire, it is incredible to see how quickly they can use Inspiration Maps as a brainstorming tool or for a pre-writing. Adding sentences to the Note card is a great way for students to get their ideas down. Showing students how to flip to the Outline View is always so much fun, and to watch the expressions on their faces is priceless. Having the the ability to have students move, organize and sequence their ideas in the Outline view is incredibly powerful as they write.

Of all the features the one that students really enjoy taking advantage of is bring in pictures from the camera and Camera Roll. Unlike Inspiration for the computer, Inspiration Maps does not ship with a library of pictures so in order to make your maps more visual, you can bring in pictures from your iPad to personalize your work. One tip that I learned awhile ago is that it is easy to copy pictures from Google Images into your Camera Roll, by simply holding your finger down on an image until the dialog pops up to that says Save Photo. Once you do that you will find the picture in the Camera Roll that can then be used with Inspiration Maps. If you know it advance that your students will be working a particular project and will need some specific pictures you can load them ahead of time using Google images so that your students can then simply select them from the camera Roll.

Sharing your Inspiration Maps is really easy and the program gives you lots of ways to do this. You can open up the maps in other programs when you are done which is a good option when you want to continue the writing process. I often have students send their Inspiration Maps outline to Pages which works really well. Inspiration Maps supports emailing your maps as an Inspiration Maps document or a PDF and from the Outline view it supports emailing the outline as text. Inspiration has done an excellent job of integrating Dropbox into the app which makes it easy to integrate it with your workflow if you are using Inspiration on a Mac or PC. By upgrading your desktop version of Inspiration to version 9.1, the latest build you can access your Inspiration Maps from your Dropbox account and continue working on it. Likewise, you can Export your Inspiration maps from your Mac or PC and open them with Inspiration Maps on your iPad.

Overall, you will find Inspiration Maps a joy to use and one that will benefit your students as they write, brainstorm, or think through academic content. The interface is very intuitive and the developers really devised the program and took into account the fact that the students would be interacting through touch. To this end Inspiration has accomplished a lot in providing educators with a robust and wonderful program to use in the classroom. So for me the tradition continues, as more and more of the students that I work with move to the iPad, is great to be able to recommend a program that I have relied upon for my entire career and that is Inspiration. Inspiration has a Lite version that you can trial for free which is well worth it-but once you begin to use it and see the value, you will want to upgrade to the full version which gives you great templates and better exporting features.

Tip: If you have Speak Selection turned on in Accessibility, your students can select any text in Inspiration Maps and have the iPad read it to them using the built-in  text to speech.

As a long time Inspiration user, I was really excited to see that the with the release of Inspiration 9 that you could now create traditional Buzan style mind maps. To get start creating a mind map in Inspiration 9 you simply select Map from the Starter screen. Once your mind map opens you have access to all the tools that you would have if your were creating a traditional graphic organizer in Inspiration. The mind maps in Inspiration 9 do have that organic Buzan style to them but there are lots of ways to use color to bring your map to life. To get started you simply enter your topic for the map into the central idea. By default four branches are populated for you and you are ready to begin to add ideas to flesh out your mind map. To create new branches you can use the familiar RapidFire tool or if you like you can simply click on the plus sign (+) to create another one. You can also quickly add graphics from the Inspiration Library to really spruce up your mind map. Remember if you don't see an image that you want you can always search for one by entering a keyword into the Search box in the Library window. As long as you are connected to the Internet you will be able to search the Inspiration Image Library to find just the right image you were looking for.

One of the benefits of using a mind map is the ease in which you can move ideas around in the map. This is particularly handy after doing a brainstorming session to figure out how the ideas should be organized and arranged. If you are in the mind mapping mode you can select ideas and drop and move them where you like. It is also possible to create relationship between ideas and visually show them with connecting lines. Building on the strong set of tools, Inspiration 9 continues to shine as a all around concept mapping tool and with the addition of a mind mapping mode you have more options to visually get your ideas across. For more information visit the Inspiration web site.

This past Friday I spent the entire day working with elementary school teachers in New Jersey showing them how to use Kidspiration 3 in the classroom. Within a two hour period all of the teachers were introduced to the Picture, Writing, and Math View. The teachers were quick to learn how to use the program and the intuitive interface found in Kidpsiration 3 which really helped them along. With the addition of the Word Guide and the Math manipulatives, Kidspiration 3 is clearly an essential piece of software for the elementary school classroom. Many of the teachers were excited to explore the Activities and Online Lessons to get more ideas on how this tool could be used in their classroom. With the text to speech support and the graphic representation of information Kidspiration 3 is an ideal tool for students whose learning preference is visual. Kidspiration 3 is also ideal for use with interactive whiteboards- and remember if you are working with young children you can move the tools to the bottom of the screen. Many of the teachers were really excited with the possibilities and thoroughly enjoyed using the Math tools that are now built into Kidspiration 3. If you have not taken a look at Kidspiration 3 in awhile, I would urge you to take a look at it and download the Trial version that is available from the Inspiration web site.

Inspiration 8 continues to be on my top 10 all time list of software applications and every time I use it or run a workshop showing teachers how they can support students I am always amazed at the built in features and templates. Just yesterday, I did an in-service program on using Inspiration 8 and Webspiration and I showed a group of Middle School teachers how they can integrate graphic organizers in their classroom's with students. Some of the features which really shine are: Text to Speech, WordGuide, Templates, and the Transfer to Word. On the heels of this I was excited to see that Inspiration 9 will be released in January 2010.

Here is what Inspiration Software is saying about Inspiration 9:

Comprehend. Create. Communicate. Achieve More

For visual mapping, outlining, writing and making presentations, use Inspiration® 9, the ultimate thinking and learning tool. Brainstorm ideas, structure your thoughts and visually communicate concepts to strengthen understanding with the Diagram and Map Views. To take notes, organize information, and structure writing for plans, papers and reports, use the integrated Outline View to focus on main and supporting ideas and to clarify thinking in written form. With Inspiration's Presentation Manager, transform your diagrams, mind maps and outlines into polished presentations that communicate ideas clearly and demonstrate understanding and knowledge.

For more information go to Inspiration Software website.