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Semantic Webs
Not all students or teachers think in linear ways. The popular software Inspiration and Kidspiration are based on flow charts, but allow free-association ideas that allow us to link thoughts in more dynamic, non-linear ways. The simple charts below were created with Kidspiration.
Visual learning techniques - graphical ways of working with ideas and presenting information - teach students to clarify their thinking, and to process, organize and prioritize new information. Visual diagrams reveal patterns, interrelationships and interdependencies. They also stimulate creative thinking.
Your assignment is to use Inspiration, Kidspiration, or the Microsoft Word or Powerpoint flow chart drawing tools to create a "semantic web."
You can download a demo of Inspiration at: http://www.inspiration.com/freetrial/index.cfm
From the Inspiration/Kidspiration website:
What is visual learning?
Visual learning is a powerful method of teaching and learning that utilizes graphical ways of working with ideas and presenting information. Visual learning helps students:
- Make abstract ideas visible and concrete
- Connect prior knowledge and new concepts
- Provide structure for thinking, writing, discussing, planning, and reporting
- Focus thoughts and ideas that lead to understanding and interpretation
What are the different types of semantic webs, or "graphic organizers"?
- Idea Maps
- Concept Maps:
- Literary Webs
- Character Webs
- Comparison Webs
Visual learning techniques help students: Clarify thinking. Students see how ideas are connected and realize how information can be grouped or organized. With visual learning, new concepts are more thoroughly and easily understood.
Reinforce understanding. Students recreate, in their own words, what they've learned. This helps them absorb and internalize new information, giving them ownership of their ideas.
Integrate new knowledge. Diagrams updated throughout a lesson prompt students to build upon prior knowledge and internalize new information. By reviewing diagrams created previously, students see how facts and ideas fit together.
Identify misconceptions. Just as a concept map or web shows what students know, misdirected links or wrong connections reveal what they don't understand.
For more formal flowcharts, see the SmartDraw tutorial "How to Draw Flowcharts" (Includes basic flowcharting shapes)
http://www.smartdraw.com/resources/centers/flowcharts/tutorial1.htm
Start or end of the program Computational steps or processing function of a program Input or output operation Decision making and branching Connector or joining of two parts of program
Creating a flow chart in Microsoft Word:
- Identify an educational topic that a flow chart can easily be used with.
- Using Microsoft Word's drawing toolbar, create a flow chart for the educational topic.
- Include at least one autoshape, one clipart, and one arrow in the flow chart.
- Print out the flow chart. Submit the printed copy or email to the instructor.
Draw flowcharts with Word or PowerPoint
Adapted from:
1. Draw with Word
On the View menu, choose Toolbars>Drawing. On the Drawing toolbar, click AutoShapes and point to Flowchart to see these shapes:
Inserting shapes
To insert a shape (for example, the Flowchart: Process shape), click it, position the pointer where you want the shape inserted, and click again.
Adding text to shapes
To include text in the shape, right-click the shape, Add Text, and type text. If the text is too long or the font size is too big, resize the shape by clicking it and dragging the sizing handles to make it larger, or make the font smaller by selecting the text and clicking a smaller point size in the Font Size box.
Connecting shapes
To connect shapes, click AutoShapes, point to Connectors, and then click a connector, for example, the Straight Arrow Connector. Then click a border on the first shape and on the second shape, where the connector snaps to connection points on the shapes. Even though you could use Lines AutoShapes, you may want to use Connectors because they automatically snap to the borders of the shapes in the flowchart.
Note In Word 2000, click the Arrow button on the Drawing toolbar, click a border on the first shape, hold down the mouse button, and release it where you want the arrowhead.
Adding text to connectors
To add text to a connector, click the Text Box button on the Drawing toolbar and position the text box alongside the arrow. If you don't want the text box to have visible borders, select the box, and then on the Format menu, selectText Box. On the Colors and Lines tab, under Line, in the Color drop-down list, select No Line.
Grouping shapes
To group the shapes in the flowchart so that they stay and move together, select the objects you want to include by holding down SHIFT as you click each one. On the Drawing toolbar, click Draw, and then Group.
Note If you resize the grouped objects with the sizing handles, you may need to adjust the font size of the text.
Resizing shapes
You can resize the shape by clicking it and dragging the sizing handles. If you want the size of the shape to remain the same, make the text smaller by selecting the text and clicking a smaller point size in the Font Size box.
In Word 2002 and Word 2003, you can also select the Resize AutoShape to F it Text check box. The shape will resize when you change the font size.
Unique features in Word
Word also allows you to wrap text around shapes. Make sure that the shape is not grouped and select it. Then on the Format menu, click AutoShape and the Layout tab. Choose the wrapping style you want to apply.
Note In Word 2002 and Word 2003, options for choosing a wrapping style are available only if the AutoShape is placed in the document without being placed on a drawing canvas. To prevent Word from automatically placing AutoShapes on a drawing canvas, clear the Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes check box on the General tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu).
2. Draw with PowerPoint
Right-click any toolbar and select the Drawing toolbar. Click AutoShapes and point to Flowchart to see appropriate shapes.
Follow the instructions above (Inserting Shapes, Adding Text, Connecting, etc.) as above in Word.
Unique features in PowerPoint
PowerPoint also offers some features that Word does not. To insert text, for example, PowerPoint allows you to click inside the shape and type. If text does not fit inside the object, just select the object. Then on the Format menu, clickAutoShape, click the Text Box tab, and select the Word wrap text in AutoShape check box to wrap the text to the width of the object.
Feature Comparison
Word PowerPoint AutoShape templates X X Insert text in a graphic by clicking and typing X Resize AutoShape to fit text X1 X Word wrap text in AutoShape X1 X Wrap text around AutoShape X 1 This feature is not available in Word 2000.
Educational Technology
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