BP3 SimpleDiagrams

Ever since my school dropped its site license for Inspiration, I’ve been on the hunt for good mind mapping software. Honestly, I don’t use mind mapping very much myself, but my students find it valuable, and every time I lead a technology training workshop for other teachers, someone invariably expresses interest in applications that make brainstorming easier in the classroom.

So, given the opportunity to explore some Web 2.0 tools on GO2WEB20, I took advantage and ran two searches, one for “mind map” and the other for “brainstorm.” I was surprised to find only a few hits based on my search terms (including Edistorm, a group mind mapping web app I've used for the past year or so); however, the limited results did make narrowing down my choice of new toy simpler! 

Search results on GO2WEB20

I eventually settled on a downloadable app called SimpleDiagrams. Though I’ll admit to having been tempted, I opted for the free version, with fewer bells and whistles. It didn’t take me long to realize that SimpleDiagram was a barebones sort of application. It came with some included images that could be dragged onto the workspace, a few backgrounds, and the ability to—wait for it—align text. Of course, drawing tools including a line tool, pencil tool and textboxes were available, as well.

SimpleDiagrams interface

So, if I wasn’t drawn in by the vast functionality of SimpleDiagrams, why did I stick to it? Really, because it lived up to its namesake…SimpleDiagrams was easy to use and didn’t waste my time making me figure out how to get started. In addition, I really liked its design. The included images were all line drawings and looked as though they had been hand-drawn with chalk—a welcome change from the cheesy icons I was accustomed to in Inspiration software.

How do I hope to use SimpleDiagrams in my classroom? Check it out!

My product, built using SimpleDiagrams