The Joy of Teaching

There is no better feeling when you are teaching to see your students in perfect sync with you as the lesson or demonstration unfolds. In many ways it almost feels like a symphony of sorts- there I am teaching and I can watch the expression and the heads moving in unison as they grasp the ideas that I am espousing. Pretty powerful stuff to say the least. Today was one of those days where everything just flowed. I have been introducing my students to the power of videoconferencing and challenging them to think of some ways to use it in the classroom. In this vein, I introduced them to two of my favorite videoconferencing applications Skype and Oovoo.

For the first part of the class, I connected with my friend Laura at Inspiration, Inc. and my class had a chance to meet her via videoconferencing. We had a very good connection and the class marveled in just how easy it was to accomplish the connection. After Laura introduced herself, we connected via Glance so that we could share her screen. Laura and I have done this before with some other classes but it was the first time we were using Glance to share her screen. Using the latest version of Glance and my account I was able to Start a session and view Laura's screen. As I have noted one of the things that I like most about Glance is just how easy it is to use. Today was a perfect example- within seconds of starting the session, Laura's screen was up and my class was viewing her computer. Laura did a great job of demonstrating InspireData which continues to impress me. Just this past week I modeled for a fifth grade teacher how to set up a mock election by using the eSurvey feature within InspireData. Glance was really fast and the screen redraws were nearly instantaneous. It was a great session and Glance worked flawlessly. My students were very excited to participate in the webinar and began to see just how these tools could be used together to deliver professional development and instruction.

After the short webinar- I had a chance to show them OoVoo and connected with Philip Robertson from OoVoo. We had a great conversation and the students remarked on the clarity of the image and the quality of the audio. We also had a chance to record the session which is another benefit of OoVoo and I had a chance to replay it for them. The session was a big hit and once again Philip came through and provided some great information and his great sense of humor. In in all it was a great day of teaching!

InspireData and Authentic Data

What better way to get students engaged in a project then by having them use authentic data. I was reading today's New Jersey Star Ledger and there were several articles about the crime statistics for the tri-county area where I live complete with tables of all the crimes reported by the New Jersey State Police for 2006. I found the data set to be very interesting and as I was looking at the data tables, it dawned on me that this would be great data to have students look at in InspireData. Students could create the data tables and spend some time looking at the trends to get a better handle on what types of crimes are occurring in each of the towns. Using the tools in InspireData students can look at trends and report back to the class. Working with authentic data makes this task extremely engaging and can help student to better understand trends and make hypothesis as to why certain crimes seem to ebb and flow.

Yuuguu to the Rescue

One of the tools that I use on a regular basis to support others who are using technology are desktop screen sharing applications. For the past year I have been using a commercial product which allowed me to share my computer desktop with others. Having the ability to share my desktop has allowed me to demonstrate how to use various software applications without the need to get into my car. It is a great tool for providing "just in time" software support and training. It is also an ideal tool for doing webinars.

I am always on the lookout for new companies that are developing new and innovative products and I recently came across a new desktop sharing piece of software called Yuuguu. You simply download the application from their website which is available for Macintosh a Windows and within minutes you could be doing a web conference, as I did this afternoon with my friend Laura from Inspiration, Inc. Laura was kind enough to show me some of the new features in InspireData 1.5, which I have written about in my blog. Both Laura and I were amazed at just how fast it was to start a desktop sharing session. Using a familiar buddy list metaphor you simply click on start a session and when the other person accepts you see their screen. You can also request to take control of their screen which was very cool! Here is a screenshot of what the session looked like when we were using Yuuguu. Yuuguu was fast and easy to use. Yuuguu will be adding the capability of doing desktop sharing directly through the browser in a future update which will make it an even more indispensable tool for providing others with support and training.

Analyzing Data in InspireData 1.5

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.

InspireData 1.5 eSurvey Videos

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!

Inspiration Releases InspireData 1.5

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

Highlights of Summer Blogging

I hope that everyone has had a great summer! I have been busy blogging this summer and I hope I can keep up the pace as I move into my Fall schedule. It has been a lot of fun writing about new applications and having the opportunity to meet and talk to some of the developers of the programs. But along the way , I have met some great folks who not only have a vision as to how these programs can be utilized but are passionate about the work they do.

For those of you who may be new to this blog, I have spent a fair amount of time talking about assistive technology, mind mapping, visual learning, project management, as well as talking about Web 2.0 applications that are both innovative and useful. Along the way I have also written about some interesting programs which I would like to highlight for you. If you have the opportunity take a look at the Archived articles, I’m sure you will find something of interest.

Review of MindManager 7 Mac
MindSystems ThemeReader & Text to Speech
InspireData from Inspiration
Odiogo- Adding Accessibility to Blogs
Teacher’s Guide to Mindmapping
TouchGraph Visual Search Engine
FastTrack Schedule 9.2
NovaMind 4 for Mac Released
IntelliGantt Add-in for Mindmanager Pro 7
PersonalBrain 4 Macintosh Released
JVCGantt Pro 3 & MindManager 7-Perfect Together
Vernier’s Labquest Handheld Data Analysis Tool
XMIND for Mindmapping
Hyperstudio 5 to be Released this Fall
LiveScribe- This Isn’t an Ordinary Pen
theRealizer-Mindmanager Add-in
ConceptDraw Mindmap 5 for Macintosh Shipping August 28


Enjoy and let me know what you think-your comments are always welcomed!

InspireData from Inspiration

I originally wrote this piece about a year ago but thought that it would be of interest to you. This is a very exciting piece of software to help students make sense out of data by teaching them how to do analysis using visual and analytic methodologies.

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After checking in to the National Educational Technology Conference at the San Diego Convention Center I decided to see what materials the Exhibitors had left for us in anticipation of the start of the conference on the following day. To my surprise, the Inspiration Company, was about to announce a new product called InspireData, which really intrigued me. Having been a long time user and trainer of Inspiration products I was excited to see a product that was cross curricular and that could help students develop their ability to analyze data. With all of the data that is around us, students more than ever before need to develop their ability to make sense of the data and interpret what it all means. In this respect InspireData gives students the tools to begin to sift through data sets and draw conclusions by using visual methodologies. Students canuse Venn, stack, pie and axis plots to help them interpret and draw conclusions about the data set they are working
on.

A Closer Look
Having played around with InspireData for the past week or so and I am very impressed with the user interface and its ease of use. InspireData comes with over 50 data sets on a wide variety of topics and subjects, which are sure to engage students in the inquiry process. InspireData data sets span the areas of science, mathematics, social studies and more and give teachers a great place to start in learning how to use the program. Some of the examples of the data sets that are included are: US Immigration, World Population, Plant growth, Planets basic, NBA Statistics, and Hurricanes, Both students and teachers will find something of interest in these varied data sets to pique their curiosity and to engage them. Using a very similar metaphor as you will find in Inspiration students can move from the Table View to the Plot View with a click of the mouse. When starting the program students can select one of the pre-made data sets or students have the option of entering their own data directly in the application. Students also have the option of importing data from tab delimited or CSV files. One of the really nice features is the ability for teachers to create a Questionnaire which then allows students to fill in data into a form as one would find on the web. This really facilitates data entry and assures that the required data is properly entered into the Table. Teachers can set up a computer with the Questionnaire and have students enter data that they collected right into InspireData. Once the data is entered into the Table that is when the fun really begins. Switching over to the Plot view students can decide which of the type of plots can help them to visualize their data and make meaning from the disparate data points. Students can use the following types of plots to better help them understand their data: Venn, Stack, Pie, Axis, and Time series.

With a click of the mouse students will be able to switch from the Table view to the Plot view to begin plotting their data. InspireData adds two unique types of plots, the Venn and the Time series plot. The concept of Venn plots may be new to students at it really helps students to visually how different variables in their date tables are related. InspireData allows
students to have up to 3 hoops as they are called when they are creating their Venn plots. In one of the sample data sets called Sleep Survey students can begin to explore how the number of hours of sleep is related to the ease of waking up or if there are any relationships between gender, age and hours slept. Within each of the Venn loops students can set the filters that determine where the data points move to. This is highly visual and students can quickly begin to compare and see how the data points are grouped. For example in the first loop you can have a filter that says Hours Sleep < proccess=" hard.">

InspireData invites students to look for relationships and makes it extremely easy to change filters when creating Venn plots. One of the unique plots that your students will find in InspireDate are Time series, InspireData allows students to plot a series of data as a line graph representing change over time. Once the data is plotting you can animate the data to illustrate the change over time. This is a great feature for scientific data that your students may collect as part of a science project. Students will enjoy the ability to create the Time series plots and see the relationships evolve over time. Once students have analyzed and plotted their data, InspireData will allow them to capture their slides (plots) so that they can retrieve it at any time. When students capture a plot, InspireData records the following information: plot type, axis assignments, notes, view constraints, labeling/coloring and the plot title. Students can rearrange their slides in the slider sorter and use them to present a slide show. Students also have the ability to Update slides from the Slide Sorter if they have made any changes to them for example adding a note.

Conclusion

InspireData is one of the more creative cross-curricular tools that
has come out in a long time. There is something inherently engaging about the
program that will keep students asking questions about the data they are studying. As I noted students and teachers will find the program easy to use and the 50 data sets that come with InspireData should meet the needs of many teachers. InspireData is a program that you will want to jump in and play with as you explore relationships with your data set. With so much data being produced today it is imperative that students become informed consumers and learn to use tools like InpsireData to make meaning of data in the world around them. InspireData has tremendous cross-curricular applications and will quickly become of the leading analysis tools in the K-12 educational marketplace.

Reprinted by permission from Inclusion Times, which is published by AssistiveTek,
LLC. Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D. is a trained school psychologist, with expertise in the area of assistive technology.

Inspiration Updates Software

If you are a user of Inspiration 8, Kidspiration, 2.0 or InspireData and have moved up to an Intel based Duo Core processor computer then you should go to the Inspiration website and update your programs. As soon as you upgrade you will notice a big performance boost especially when you open and save larger files. Now my copy of Inspiration 8 opens up lightning fast on MacBook. The upgrades are free of charge and are available for Macintosh and Windows computers with the Intel based Duo Core processors. Let me know how you make out.

Review of InspireData

Take a look at a new and very interesting application called InspireData from the Inpsiration Company that was released this summer. For the full review go to LD Resources

Enjoy

Brian