Today we had our first lecture and workshop for the subject and already it has managed to capture my full attention and interest. I am so excited to learn what fantastic programs and tools are out there available for me to use with my students next year in my classroom.The first program that we have been introduced to is called Inspiration. We used this program to make a concept map like my example of Healthy Eating. It was such a simple, yet potentially complex program that I think even young students who are just starting school will be able to use.
My next picture is a Mind Map that I learnt to make also using the program called Inspiration. This program is fantastic! I felt like I could have spent hours constructing all sorts of different mind maps. It was lots of fun and I only just scraped the surface on all the capabilities and potential it has to make some fantastic pieces of complex work.
The last picture is of my Farm Animals concept map that I started making as an example of another concept map.
I think if I have this much passion about the uses for this program in the classroom the students will enjoy working with it to produce individual pieces of work too. They will be able to come up with some fantastic concept maps and mind maps that help them to learn a topic in their own individual way. I think that it is very important that the students have free rein to make their own maps so that they are developing some pieces of work that helps their individual learning style. This would obviously occur with the aid of some examples, teacher guidance and modelling. However in my classroom I would like to encourage my students to be as creative as they would like and design something individual.
