Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner

Supporting Universal Access and Universal Design for Learning

Monthly Archives: May 2009

May 24, 2009
by Paul Hamilton
3 Comments

Digital Tools for Learning Professionals

Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day is a blog where I often learn of new tools that are worth checking out.  Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning Performance Technologies (C4LPT), provides another helpful service in tracking the digital tools that learning professionals find most useful.

I appreciate Jane’s use of the term “learning professionals”, and many of us who are part of that group are not early adopters when it comes to digital resources.  So, I think it’s really helpful to have the opportunity to check out what other people are finding most useful in their work.  That’s why I recommend that you check out Jane’s evolving Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 and her 25 Tools: A Toolbox for Learning Professionals (2009 Version).

For the record, my own top three tools at the moment are: Firefox, because with available addons, it is by far the most accessible browser I’ve come across; Google Reader because it offers a convenient and organized way for me to track the blog posts that power my learning curve; and the wiki because I find wikis to be incredibly versatile and useful for countless purposes.  (I’m most familiar with the wiki platform offered by  PBWorks.)

May 15, 2009
by Paul Hamilton
1 Comment

KIDO’Z

I’ve been aware of KIDO’Z for a while, but thanks to an excellent post by Demo Girl Maureen McDonald, I’ve had another look.  KIDO’Z is new and improved, and I’m impressed.  It’s a web browser that offers the opportunity to tailor make a safe web environment to meet individual needs and interests.

KIDO’Z is a web browser that is described by its developers as a “Kid’s Web Environment”.  Once downloaded and installed, the browser offers a self contained web of games, websites and videos that are accessed wiith large icons.  Because KIDO’Z is an Adobe Air application, it will run in Windows, Mac, or Linux.

KIDO’Z comes with an extensive collection of  games, videos, and websites built-in, and these appear to have been selected carefully.  The beauty of this browser, however, is that you have the option of completely customizing what is available.  The browser is managed by a set of Parental Controls that can be accessed anywhere.  KIDO’Z is currently available in 17 languages.

I’ve embedded Maureen’s excellent screencast about KIDO’Z below.

May 4, 2009
by Paul Hamilton
1 Comment

DropMind

I’ve written here previously about several free mind mapping applications — Free Mind, Thinkature, Mindmeister, bubbl.us, Mindomo, and XMind. Not only have all these mind mapping options survived, the list of available tools continues to grow.  I’m writing today about another mind mapping application that is new to me; and if time permits I may write later this week about yet another.  Clearly, there are many who value the ability to organize their thoughts visually.

DropMind is impressive and versatile software that offers both online mind mapping and a downloadable desktop application.  The user interface is intuitive.  Images and hyperlinks can be included, as can icons and symbols from an extensive built-in collection.  Collaboration is facilitated, and a chat feature is included.

DropMind‘s mind maps can be printed, or they can be easily exported as either images or document outlines (.rtf format ) that open in most word processors, including MS Word.  I think this outline feature may be especially valuable to anyone who wants to move from a “brainstormed” mind map to a written document.  Mind maps can also be imported from either MindManager or Free Mind.

DropMind is definitely worth checking out by anyone who values the power of visual representation.  I love one of the tag lines that DropMind uses:  Realize the true potential of your amazing mind! I believe mind mapping can help all of us with this, but I suspect that it is especially helpful for those of us who struggle with text.

The first embedded screen shot below shows what a DropMind mind map can look like.    The second screen shot shows the same mind map as a document outline. The third shows Drop Mind’s user interface. (You can view the embedded screen shots in full screen mode by clicking on the button in the lower right corner.  If that doesn’t work for you, you can zoom in with the slider on the lower left corner and then use the scroll bars.)



May 1, 2009
by Paul Hamilton
1 Comment

Tag Galaxy (Online Resource)

Thanks to a Twitter tweet from Silvia Tolisano earlier today, I checked out a terrific resource that I hadn’t seen.  It’s a remarkable search tool that’s been around for almost a year; and this illustrates two things.  First, there is so much goodness online that it’s impossible to keep on top of it all.  Secondly, it underscores the value of the sharing that happens on Twitter.

Tag Galaxy is an application where folksonomy, Flickr, and creative three-dimensional presentation come together in a way that is highly effective.  The net result is an intuitive visual way to search for images on Flickr and to see the relationships between tags.

You enter a tag into a search box,  and that tag becomes a “sun”  that is orbited by a “galaxy” of related tags. The related tags are presented as planets orbiting the sun. If you wish to combine tags, you simply click on  an orbiting tag and create a new sun with its own galaxy of related tags.

Once you have the desired tag, or combination of tags, you click on the planet you’ve created to view a globe of related images, as shown in the screenshot below for the tags Himalayas and Nepal.  (This globe shows the first 235 of the 17,994 Flickr images tagged Himalayas and Nepal!) The globe can be tilted, rotated, and spun in any direction to find and select an image.