Apr 25 2008
Visualisation – Exploratree & Periodic Table of Visualisation Methods
As an instructional designer some days you are more creative than others. I’m afraid that after a day of project planning or strategic meetings, teachers who meet with me about their online or blended course design run a particular risk of getting short-changed.
Coffee helps, but what you really want is a menu – a range of options to get you started. I’ve found that Exploratree and the Periodic Table of Visualization Methods are two inspirational sites which can help me break through ‘designer’s block’. Each provides a list of visualisation methods, which can provide the basis for a learning activity at any cognitive level from remembering through creating.
The Periodic Table created by Ralph Lengler and Martin Eppler, is a listing of 100 methods, including methods like the Cycle Diagram, the Evocative Knowledge Map or Mintzberg Organigraph (and that’s not the only one I’ve never heard of). On hovering over the method, an example appears in a pop-up. Chris Wallace has created an accompanying page which links each method to its Wikipedia page and a stand-alone version of its example.
Exploratree goes a little further. Although you can certainly use the ‘thinking guides’ just to spark ideas, with a free account educators and/or students can create, edit and save the thinking guides online. Users can share guides and so collaborate on projects.
The two sites above contain many methods that can help a teacher and students explore, critically examine, fully map or actively discuss almost any topic. And provide a kick-start for an instructional designer with designer’s block. Usually once I’ve created the first activity, it’s all downhill from there.
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Hello pyjamas.
Even as I am still reading about the various suggestions of this post (thanks!) I wonder if you would like to get a group of your associates together for a demo of Marratech. I see you have tried Dim Dim… and I feel I have something to offer.
http://www.marratech.com
I am now following you in Twitter, as I am dnsturrock, and perhaps demo participants would come from the twitter group.
If interested, please email me. Thanks.
Hello Joyce,
Long time since we’ve chatted isn’t it!
Thanks for the links to the ‘thinking tools’ I’m in the middle of a ‘creative block’ for my final assignment and will use these to get me back into gear very quickly (I hope!).
It was interesting to read what you said about writer’s block, students probably have the same issue when we put them on the spot with demands for ideas for demand writing! Are you aware of any for younger learners (i.e. primary school?) Inspiration is an obvious one, but we are hindered by departmental firewalls for online apps.
Fiona
p.s. Is there an RSS link for your blog? I’d add it to my new coComment list if I knew how.
Hello Fiona, Thanks for leaving a comment. Last two months have been absolutely insane at work, as my blog shows (no posts since April!) and in a moment of delusion I signed up for 31day comment challenge as well but haven’t been able to do anything about it. It’s a shocker and I must do better. Well done for sticking with it, as you must be just as busy at your school.
Will Mindomo work? It’s Flash-based and usually gets past the firewall. May be too business like for your students. Will keep my eyes open for others.
J