ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

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