Digital Diagram

This week we worked with digital diagrams on Inspiration.  I thought this was a great tool to use for all grade levels.  Diagrams are so common in every subject and this tool makes creating a diagram so simple and fast.  I can easily see myself using this to quickly create diagrams to use in all subjects to hang around the room.  They will be great for helping introduce a topic, or to create at the end of a unit to help review for a test.  They are so simple to create that students can create their own.  I do like the classic diagram on the poster board where students have to write out the information because I think it helps it stick more, but I can see this tool as a way for students to organize what they will put on a poster before they start.  It being on the computer though is great because it allows for links to online sources.  This is nice because you don't want too much information on a diagram so the links provide a way for student to obtain additional information.

I wish I had known about this tool before this week because I recently attempted to make a diagram through Microsoft Word and it was a mess.  It was so difficult and time consuming.  By the time I was done with it, it did not look nearly as good as if I had done it with Inspiration.  Having had to create a diagram that way and then with Inspiration really helped me appreciate how useful this tool is.  This has been one of my favorite tools we have learned so far.