Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Here’s the fourth in my series on mind mapping applications that are available online. Each is unique, and all are worth a look.

Mindomo (online resource) By contrast with Bubbl.us, Mindomo is a “full-featured” online mind-mapping platform. There are numerous available formatting options that allow you to customize the look of your mind map. Sub-topics can easily be collapsed or extended. Notes can be attached to any topic or sub-topic. You can embed links to websites. There are conveniently built-in collections of icons and images that can be used in your mindmap. You can also import images from the web, including your own images if they are stored on the web.

As is the case with the other online mind mapping applications I’ve discussed, Mindomo is designed for easy sharing and online collaboration. Mind maps are stored on the Mindomo server, and can be made available as you choose. As a bonus, Mindomo mind maps can be exported in a variety of formats: txt (plain text); rtf (rich text); pdf; image (png, jpg, gif). Mindomo will also import mind maps from Mindjet and Freemind.

It is a major plus that keyboard commands are available for all of Mindomo’s common functions. The Mindomo editing toolbar, shown below, has a familiar feel and is easy to use.

This figure below gives a pretty good idea of what a typical basic Mindomo mind map looks like, without any icons or images. This is actually the Mindomo tutorial, and it is probably as good a way as any to explore Mindomo.

It should be noted that Mindomo wants to sell you a subscription to a premium version. With the free “basic” version, however, you get almost all the functionality. You can’t export in Mindjet format, and you have to put up with a little advertising (just Google ads, as far as I can tell). Perhaps the greatest limitation with the free version is that you can only have 7 mind maps on the go at a time.

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