Inspiration

A picture is worth a thousand words. The above example is what Inspiration does better than any other program – concept mapping. Inspiration is designed for Grade 6 to adult while a complementary program, Kidspiration, is more suitable for Grades 1 – 5. On this page both programs will be referred to collectively as Inspiration.

Based on visual learning techniques, students are able to structure their research or other thought processes using an integrated diagram and mapping environment to organise and plan concepts and information. Students are able to use clearer thinking skills, resulting in more creative and better organized project

• Brainstorming
• Diagramming
• Planning
• Critical Thinking
• Concept Mapping
• Organising.

Inspiration contains over 1000 symbols and will import graphics. Graphic creations can be exported to other programs as a gif or a jpeg. Outlines can be exported as RTF for use in a word processor.

Create hyperlinks in Inspiration to link diagrams to the Internet. Merely typing in a web address will automatically create a hyperlink. Web pages, complete with hyperlinks, can be created through the HTML export function.

Inspiration can be a very useful evaluation tool for both the pre and post testing of any unit of work. Using the rapid fire button students are able to quickly create a map that reflects their current knowledge base of the topic under discussion.

Use a data projector to conduct whole class or group brainstorming sessions. Once again the rapid fire button will be extremely useful for this type of activity.

Use shape, images and colour to maintain a consistent layer order. In the example on the right the structure is clearly defined by the use of shapes to represent the respective layers of the concept map. The large star is the main concept with the cloud shapes being used as the sub headings. The circle shapes attach to each of the sub headings and contain the next level of information. This could could easily be a very confusing piece of work if it was not so well ordered.

For lots of good ideas browse though the links on the previous page where you will find many examples of excellent projects created by Inspiration in real classroom use.