Thing #14 - Mind Maps and Flowcharts, Oh My!

For this assignment, I explored Gliffy and Mindmeister (free Web 2.0 tools that allow the user to create flowcharts and mind maps). Here are my critiques of these two Web 2.0 tools:

Gliffy is a nice tool to be aware of, but has all of the basic charts as Microsoft Word. As I am already very comfortable with creating charts and such with MW, I don't think that I would stop using this software to use a Web-based application that does the same thing. HOWEVER, I found something really neat that MW cannot do. Gliffy allows you to create a floor plan, and the interior design floor plan allows you to decorate! I thought this was a really neat tool, and although this is not really useful in an early elementary classroom, it would be extremely handy when buying, building, or decorating a house! I just had fun playing with it!

I found Mindmeister to be a  little more unfamiliar and interesting. I have never really created a mind map, so this is somewhat of a new concept to me. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom! There were several different types of mind maps that you can create. This would allow the students to organize thoughts and ideas for a paper, project, or just to study for the next test! I was impressed with this tool and might use it someday to help me plan or organize!