Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Reflection on Frank Pirrone Presentation: Collaborative Concept Mapping

The students and teachers in my building use concept mapping tools fairly regularly. In the past they have used FreeMind, Gliffy, and Bubble.us. I had heard of CMapTools in the past but had not found the time to learn about this tool. When I saw the K12 Online Conference session offered by Frank Pirrone I decided to change that.

Frank Pirrone provides some great screencasts of how to install the software on your computer through creating your first concept map in his K12 Online Conference session. I installed CMapTools on my laptop as I listened to his presentation. The installation was simple and quick once I realized where to click for the download (you must click on icon directly below "Downloaded" and then click on "CMapTools Download Information & Forms"). Otherwise you may use this direct link to their download page.

As I followed Frank Pirrone's instructions I learned the ins and outs of this great tool. I hope to add a CMap Server over the next few days at my school (I submitted a request for the download link). Either way, I see CMapTools becoming a regular tool at Frank H. Harrison Middle School next year. This free tool provides an exceptional alternative to the costly Inspiration. I will seek to add it to our image on our student and teacher laptops for the next school year.


tag: , ,

Image Attribution:
Image: 'How flickr works ?'
www.flickr.com/photos/98299765@N00/162403710

No comments: