Free Concept Mapping Software
My favourite concept mapping software which I have been using for about a year and a half is Inspiration.
A simple concept map of basic aspects of blogging you might want to explore done on Inspiration 7.6
I feel Inspiration 7.6 is the most flexible and powerful, plus there is a pocket size version for handheld computers/PDAs. They all cost money however, and it is for that reason, I am only featuring open source software here:
1. Freemind
FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click "fold / unfold" and "follow link" operations.
Check out their website to download the software, but more importantly, to find out how you can use this free tool to engage in a more visual approach to learning.
2. View your Mind (vym)
VYM (View Your Mind) is a tool to generate and manipulate maps which show your thoughts. Such maps can help you to improve your creativity and effectivity. You can use them for time management, to organize tasks, to get an overview over complex contexts, to sort your ideas etc.
Maps can be drawn by hand on paper or a flip chart and help to structure your thoughs. While a tree like structure like shown on this page can be drawn by hand or any drawing software vym offers much more features to work with such maps.
vym is not another drawing software, but a tool to store and modify information in an intuitive way. For example you can reorder parts of the map by pressing a key or add various information like a complete email by a simple mouse click.
3. Kdissert
Kdissert is a mindmapping-like tool to help students to produce complicated documents very quickly and efficiently : presentations, dissertations, thesis, reports ... The concept is innovative : mindmaps produced using kdissert are processed to output near-ready-to-use documents. While targetted mostly at students, kdissert can also help teachers, decision maker, engineers and businessmen.
4. CMap Tools (My favourite FREE concept mapping software)
This site is maintained by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), an interdisciplinary research unit of the University of West Florida. The IHMC Cmap Tools software empowers users to construct, navigate, share and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps.
This map was done using C-Map tools , which I am very fond of because of i) its free and ii) because it is really quite a powerful tool. It can also be used on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.
This is another map done is CMap:
This map was created to help students see how the narrow focus of our syllabus relates to the big picture.
The write ups for the next three software are from http://www.audiencedialogue.org/soft-visu.html
5. Compendium
Compendium has three key elements: a shared visual space where ideas can be generated and analyzed, a methodology that allows the exploration of different points of view, and a set of tools for quickly and easily sharing data both within and beyond the boundaries of the group. The process enables people to negotiate collective understanding "on the fly," capture the discussions, and share representations of their knowledge digitally across communities of practice -- an approach crucial in keeping collaborative efforts on track and on time. More...
6. Claimaker: The Internet Argument Mapping tool
ClaiMaker is a web-based system for individuals or distributed communities to publish and contest ideas and arguments, as is required in contested domains such as research literatures, intelligence analysis, or public debate. It provides tools for constructing argument maps, and a server on which they can then be published, navigated, filtered and visualized using the ClaimFinder semantic search+navigation tools.
7. Spider Map - unfortunately the URL is a dead link
Spider Map is similar to Inspiration, but is more tied to a particular way of thinking. It's not as smooth to use, but makes up for that by being free. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of trouble printing maps that extend over more than one page. That was with the PC version - but as Spidermap looks as if it was designed for a Mac, perhaps it's more reliable on that platform.
I feel Inspiration 7.6 is the most flexible and powerful, plus there is a pocket size version for handheld computers/PDAs. They all cost money however, and it is for that reason, I am only featuring open source software here:
1. Freemind
FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click "fold / unfold" and "follow link" operations.
Check out their website to download the software, but more importantly, to find out how you can use this free tool to engage in a more visual approach to learning.
2. View your Mind (vym)
VYM (View Your Mind) is a tool to generate and manipulate maps which show your thoughts. Such maps can help you to improve your creativity and effectivity. You can use them for time management, to organize tasks, to get an overview over complex contexts, to sort your ideas etc.
Maps can be drawn by hand on paper or a flip chart and help to structure your thoughs. While a tree like structure like shown on this page can be drawn by hand or any drawing software vym offers much more features to work with such maps.
vym is not another drawing software, but a tool to store and modify information in an intuitive way. For example you can reorder parts of the map by pressing a key or add various information like a complete email by a simple mouse click.
3. Kdissert
Kdissert is a mindmapping-like tool to help students to produce complicated documents very quickly and efficiently : presentations, dissertations, thesis, reports ... The concept is innovative : mindmaps produced using kdissert are processed to output near-ready-to-use documents. While targetted mostly at students, kdissert can also help teachers, decision maker, engineers and businessmen.
4. CMap Tools (My favourite FREE concept mapping software)
This site is maintained by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), an interdisciplinary research unit of the University of West Florida. The IHMC Cmap Tools software empowers users to construct, navigate, share and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps.
This map was done using C-Map tools , which I am very fond of because of i) its free and ii) because it is really quite a powerful tool. It can also be used on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.
This is another map done is CMap:
This map was created to help students see how the narrow focus of our syllabus relates to the big picture.The write ups for the next three software are from http://www.audiencedialogue.org/soft-visu.html
5. Compendium
Compendium has three key elements: a shared visual space where ideas can be generated and analyzed, a methodology that allows the exploration of different points of view, and a set of tools for quickly and easily sharing data both within and beyond the boundaries of the group. The process enables people to negotiate collective understanding "on the fly," capture the discussions, and share representations of their knowledge digitally across communities of practice -- an approach crucial in keeping collaborative efforts on track and on time. More...
6. Claimaker: The Internet Argument Mapping tool
ClaiMaker is a web-based system for individuals or distributed communities to publish and contest ideas and arguments, as is required in contested domains such as research literatures, intelligence analysis, or public debate. It provides tools for constructing argument maps, and a server on which they can then be published, navigated, filtered and visualized using the ClaimFinder semantic search+navigation tools.
7. Spider Map - unfortunately the URL is a dead link
Spider Map is similar to Inspiration, but is more tied to a particular way of thinking. It's not as smooth to use, but makes up for that by being free. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of trouble printing maps that extend over more than one page. That was with the PC version - but as Spidermap looks as if it was designed for a Mac, perhaps it's more reliable on that platform.
posted by Cross My Path at
12:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home