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Mind manager programs are all over the web ( eg here, here, here and here although the latter is dubbed a ‘concept mapper’) and are a great tool for getting one’s thoughts in order when drafting a piece of work.  For those that export to the right format (eg a text file- Mind Manager Smart does this) it’s nice and easy to import to your presentation software in a ready-made structure.  For those that work in the opposite way though, from text to pictorial map, this website might be useful.  It allows the user to enter text, using indents to arrange priority, and then creates a mindmap from the text you entered at the click of a button.  There are a few configuration options, and you can save the image to your local machine.

As we are all no doubt aware Youtube is generally blocked in schools, unfortunately this blocking stops a lot of excellent video resources being used. While at Scottish learning festival this year John Johnston said that you could use edublogs.tv, here is a short video to demonstrate how to do it.

Worth a look is Futurelab’s new online newsletter

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inspirED is a collection of news and stories to inspire anyone interested in innovative approaches to teaching and learning, updated three times a year. The first issue is now online at inspired.futurelab.org.uk, and the next will be available in January. To subscribe for e-mail reminders please e-mail inspired@futurelab.org.uk with your name, e-mail address and organisation.
inspirED is a collection of news and stories to inspire anyone interested in innovative approaches to teaching and learning, updated three times a year. The first issue is now online at inspired.futurelab.org.uk, and the next will be available in January. To subscribe for e-mail reminders please e-mail inspired@futurelab.org.uk with your name, e-mail address and organisation.

Flash is the ultimate tool for creating animations that are easily transferred to the web.  Even though it is industry-standard it can be used at any level and we’ve seen some superb examples from people of all ages and abilities.

Web 2.0 applications are catching up though, and here’s one I found that looks as though it is going to give plenty of opportunities for developing simple animations.  Called AjaxAnimator it is still in Beta (but so are plenty of other everyday applications) so expect a few bugs.  It’s great fun to play with though, and certainly gets the principles of animation over without having to install costly applications on a computer.  All you need is a browser (they suggest Firefox is best) and you’re set to go.