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Helping students learn to learn has never been more
challenging. Schools are pressed for time and funding to provide
technology staff development in an increasingly technological world. It
is more important than ever to help students develop critical thinking
and learning skills. Webbing, concept mapping, and other graphical
organizers tap visual learning modes and help students develop these
important skills.
Inspiration is the premier tool to develop ideas and organize
thinking. Educators across the nation are incorporating visual learning
methodologies and Inspirationinto English, social studies, and
science curriculum. To help teachers quickly get started, Inspiration
Software, Inc. has developed Exploring Inspiration, an
interactive training CD-ROM. Exploring Inspiration was created to
make it easier to learn Inspiration and show how the use of visual
learning techniques can strengthen student learning.
Exploring Inspiration contains information on and
teacher-created examples of visual learning techniques, including
concept mapping, webbing, brainstorming, and planning. With this
background, teachers can then jump into the ìHow to Use Inspirationsection
of the tutorial. Teachers and technology specialists from around the
country were given an opportunity to preview Exploring Inspiration.
Below you will find their reactions to the training CD-ROM, as well as
ideas for using as a training tool and reference guide.
Introduction to Visual Learning Techniques
Exploring Inspiration begins with an introduction to visual
learning with examples and step-by-step instruction for using techniques
such as concept mapping and webbing. Before jumping into ìHow to Use Inspiration,
teachers learn why they are using these techniques, and learn how to
apply them in the classroom. Marcia Norris is a Training Specialist and
Instructor with The High Tech Center Training Unit of the California
Community Colleges, a state-of-the-art training and support facility for
faculty from 114 community colleges throughout California. She's also a
long-time user of and trainer on Inspiration. ìI did the visual
thinking tutorial as well as the using-the- program strands,î wrote Ms.
Norris. ìThe brief tutorial on visual organizing is an important
element; this makes the tutorial more than just ëhow to learn Inspiration,í
and it is this component which I see as being particularly valuable when
introducing Inspiration. . . It is an easy-to- use enrichment
source as well as a tutorial.î
Good Introduction for Beginners . . . Reference Tool for
Longtime Users
Many of those who previewed Exploring Inspiration agreed that it
is a versatile training tool. Beginning Inspiration users can use the
self-paced tutorial as an initial introduction to the program . . . and
then keep it around as a handy reference guide. In the ìHow to Use Inspiration
section, users can navigate through the entire training or jump directly
to a specific topic to answer a question.
Deb Logan, a Library Media Specialist at Taft Middle School in
Marion, Ohio, previewed and evaluated Exploring Inspiration.
ìAs an experienced user of Inspiration, I opened Exploring
Inspiration expecting it to be a total review. However, I discovered
some Inspiration capabilities that I had not anticipated and I
found that it answered some old questions.î She wrote that the training
CD ìwill be a valuable tool for helping people to understand the
instructional values of the program and its potential uses.î
Aside from being used by an individual teacher as a first
introduction to Inspiration, Exploring Inspiration can
also be used by a long-time Inspiration user looking to brush up
on the program.
Carol Shields wears two hats at Western Hills High School in Fort
Worth, Texas. She is both a Home Economics and Business Education
Teacher and a Level II Teacher Technologist Trainer. When walking
through the tutorial herself, Ms. Shields was pleased to find a new idea
for using Inspiration with her students. She discovered
templates, starter documents that can be used by students to enter their
own information and work with it further. Inspiration comes with
built-in templates and also allows teachers and students to make and
save their own.
Ms. Shields created and saved a template for her students to use
while doing research. Using templates, she said, ìhelps students
organize their research better and make more productive use of their
computer time.î
Easy-to-Understand, Self-Paced Tutorial Exploring
Inspiration provides training on visual learning and Inspiration in
an easy-to-understand, self-paced format. Teachers can jump to specific
topics, pause and try out a new skill in an Inspiration document while
working through the training CD, and work through the training program
at their own pace.
Jan Alexander is an Educational Specialist in Instructional
Technology with the Region XV Education Service Center in San Angelo,
Texas. Along with her review of the training CD, she wrote about how she
used it to train a group of teachers who are part of a reading grant. ìI
have really been enjoying Exploring Inspiration. I used it in a
training yesterday as my ëthis is how it [Inspiration] looksí piece. I
launched it from my PowerPointÆ presentation. I think the training CD
is a valuable part of my inital presentation. Then we move into a
step-by-step sample project together."
Lynne Britt is a Program Specialist with Bakersfield City School
District in Bakersfield, California. She's also a Speech Pathologist by
training. She wrote, ìI liked the pacing of the program and the rate of
speech was right on target.î
Explore Exploring Inspiration!
In an ever increasingly technological world, teachers are continually
called upon to integrate technology meaningfully into their classrooms.
Inspiration Software, Inc. hopes to ease the burden, both for teachers
who must keep current with the newest in education technology and
trainers whose job it is to share information about hardware, software,
and integrating technology into the curriculum. Exploring Inspiration
was created to make it easier to learn Inspiration and show how the use
of visual learning techniques can strengthen student learning.
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