My district used to have a license for Inspiration software and it had a very helpful feature that allowed students to toggle between a concept map and a formal outline. Since I am going to be working on the research process with a 12th grade class comprised mainly of special needs students, I decided to try Gliffy to see if there was a similar feature. Unfortunately, there is no outline option, but I still think that a concept map will help the students understand the difference between a topic and a thesis and I also think that it will reinforce the relationship between the thesis and the subtopics. For a bigger version of this map, please visit http://www.gliffy.com/publish/3018788/
I like the fact that Gliffy offers a few different options for formats and I think the Venn Diagram option would be good to use with the interactive whiteboards. The program was easy to use, for the most part, but I need to investigate the user agreement and the terms of service before I can suggest this tool to my students or colleagues.
I like the format of the venn diagram on Gliffy too, and I was impressed with the program because of its simplicity. I think that the simple format you devised would help special need students easily understand the concept you are teaching. Would you use this as a whole group collaborative exercise or just as a visual teaching tool? Could you have the students fill in the areas with their research ideas to help them organize their thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI think I would like to use it as a collaborative exercise and as a teaching tool. I think if I model a sample research outline and then allow them to fill in their own in class it might help reinforce the overall idea. I'll let you know how it goes!
ReplyDeletePatti, I thought the Venn diagram was also a great tool for inside a Gliffy. There were other text boxes that I thought would be good to use, as well. One of the complaints students had with Inspiration is that they all "looked alike", but with Gliffy, there is a creative possibilities that are easy to fine. But I do miss the outline format in Inspiration!
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