Web 2.0 tools(http://www.go2web20.net)
Web 2.0 has so much to offer, almost too much, which is why I appreciated the search system that lets you be specific about what you're looking for. My goal was to find something that I could use with my students, and I found something really delightful...and useful:
Simple Diagrams is a very clever, drag and drop program for creating quick presentations.
There is a free version and a premium version, the download is very quick and easy, and if you like it, the upgrade is very inexpensive.
The program has many great features and has the appearance of a very simple child's program. It's actually quite well designed and would make informal presentations for meetings and advertising, and it could also be used to create comics or illustrate a story. The tutorials have not been designed yet, but it is very intuitive and I found I didn't need one. You just click on "New Diagram" and go to work.
You have a surprisingly large number of options.
The background can be a chalkboard or a whiteboard.
The tools are quite similar to a paint program.
You have a pencil for drawing, text boxes, magnifier,
positioning, lines, and colors choices
for text.
You can also insert images, make sticky notes, or create index cards. All of these can be resized and positioned wherever you'd like.
Four different types of drag and drop images that can be moved, sized, reversed, or filled with text. It is possible to draw freehand with the pencil, but the built-in images are very useful and easy to use.
The page is a portrait image that can be saved as a .png file.
Given the features, cost, and ease of use, it will be a great addition to my students' digital toolset. It's also fun!
There would also be many business and personal uses for Simple Diagrams.
Wow! This is a very thorough explanation of this online application. I will have to try this out. I also like the part about it being free, but beyond that it looks like a nice tool to add a little variety to the way kids do presentations in our classrooms. Not all Power Point or Photo Story :-) Pat
ReplyDeleteHi Holly, this is a really neat find! I like it because like you said it is very intuitive and also fun! I think it is great to add to our knowledge of these kinds of presentation programs, like we learned Keynote in the last class and I just loved that program. This looks very simple and looks like it does some interesting things with the drag and drop functions for creating your shapes. I imagine it could have several different applications for use and I certainly am interested in trying this out. Thanks for sharing this one with us Holly!!
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