Thing #14

Flow Charts are more educational by nature. It seems that they are more easily understood by the viewer because they are made with the viewer in mind. Many of us are introduced to different types of flowcharts at an early age. The Venn Diagrams that have become so familiar from our many years of schooling are a type of flow charts. Their name is very fitting because they can be used to help keep the flow of information going. Another familiar for of flowcharts are the tiered ones that show the rank of people of businesses with the boss or leader on top.

This is an example template from Gliffy's flowchart program.

Mind charts seem to be the opposite of flowcharts in a way. Mind charts are more for personal use. You create one connecting ideas and things by your own thoughts and the subject is always of your choosing. Often times they are just a bunch of words that only the creator knows why they are placed the way they are. Mind maps can also be used as a task listing device so that you can remember what to do and possibly in what order. Mind maps may be useful for the visual thinkers/learners in the classroom. It will allow students to connect the information they are learning in their own way.

This is the Mind Chart I created using bubbl.us

I chose Gliffy as my flowchart program because I enjoyed all of the template choices I had. I believe it makes it just that much easier for someone to go in a make one with all the guidance of haivng templates ready to use. I chose bubbl.us as my Mind chart program because I didn't like Mind Meister very much. Bubbl is much more user friendly in my opinion. I was able to easily figure out how to create bubbles where I wanted them and to move them around freely.

Thing #13

Zoho

Zoho Writer has all the basic features of a classic word program. A plus is its auto-save feature so you never miss out on forgetting to save. You can make the page full screen or not. You can also customize a dictionary so that you won't have red squiggly lines under things that are just not recognized as words. Your also able to import data which is an interesting feature. There is a share button that will allow you to share your documents with collaborators or just send it out in emails. The interface is clean with minimal distractions. It is fairly easy to navigate as well.

Google Docs
Google documents provides nearly limitless tools for students and non-students alike. There are many ways this can be used as a collaborative tool. It makes it 10x easier if you already have a gmail and most people with Android phones have one. An example of a way students can use this tool is by working on a presentation together. The students group can each do their part of the powerpoint using google's presentation and then pass it along to the next student in the group to add their part. This interface (to me) is a lot less overwhelming than the actual powerpoint software. Google keeps it clean and simple and helps even those that have never created a powerpoint before to easily be able to do so. Students can also share drawings and documents in the same manner.

I personally prefer Google Docs. Google has all of the best resources available to me from anywhere I have internet access. I use it a lot and even have my documents organized into folders for the most part. The best part is that I can upload any file to my Google docs and have access to it from anywhere. I love to do this with photos I take with my phone or images I have drawn and scanned in because then later on when I need them they are basically at my fingertips!