The tools on this page are designed to help develop student thinking skills. It is quite an ecclectic mix so make sure you look at the potential of each tool.

1. Thinkature - It is difficult to categorize this tool as it includes several different elements. The basic idea is that students use an online whiteboard to show their thinking. You begin by posting cards onto the whiteboard. These cards can be text or image and can be colour coded. You can then draw connecting lines between the different cards. There is also a chat function on the page, either text or voice, which again will facilitate collaboration. Collaborators can be invited by e-mail. I have not tried to share the URL but this may possible be another way to share the whiteboard. I would be interested to hear how you think you could use this tool. Click Here to see an example workspace.

2. Bubble.us - This presents itself as a Brainstorming tool but as you can see from the example below it is presented in Mindmap form. Fairly easy to use although there are no images or graphics allowed. I would suggest this may be a good tool for an interactive whiteboard for an introduction or plenary session where you don't have the time to introduce graphics.



3. Oasis Graphic Organizers - While not an interactive site I have included this one for anyone looking for straightforward paper based graphic organizers. You could replicate any of these designs using one of the online drawing tools such as Draw Anywhere, Flowchart to create an interactive version.

4. Exploratree - This tool from Futurelabs is intended for educational use. In essence it allows you to create visual guides/graphic organizers either from scratch or using a wide range of templates. These can then be printed or completed online. Collaboration is through e-mail although there is also the option to simply view the projectThe organizers can be presented in a show using prompts to guide the user which is a nice touch. There is also the option to leave comments. Unfortunately, I think the tool doesn't quite live up to its promise. The tool looks very professional but probably appears a little more complicated than it is. Don't be put off by all the marks on the page, it is actually quite easy to use. Secondly, when it comes to students using the tools they can alter the layout of the thinking tool unless you can find a way to lock it. Even if you can lock it they will still have to insert text boxes where they want to write. A better idea would have been to allow teachers to set up areas within each area of the graphic organizer which would appear as text fields to be completed. It's almost there as a tool and well worth a look. Click here for an example I created.



5. Moovl - This is a paid tool with a free 30 day trial. It allows students to explain the meaning of words using an animation. So, for example, you can make the word ' Spring' spring across your page. Somehting a little different for you to try.


6. Content Generator - This is another paid tool but I have included it because there is no free software that fulfills the same function. There are a number of tools available to purchase but it is the Interactive Diagram Maker that is of most interest. This tool will allow you to create your own interactive Graphic Organizers to scaffold student thinking. Click on the link to explore some possible uses.




7. Onzilist - This is a ranking tool. You or your students create a list of 11 terms and then publish for others to rank. The tool is reasonable easy to use and by moving items up and down a list. There is also a commenting function where students can explain why they ranked the list as they did.

8. Raanker - This is a second ranking tool. You rank by using a star system which is probably easier than Onzlist although it is more of a voting system than true ranking. You can also comment on the ranks. Click Here to view a rank I made of 10 reasons why we should use Web 2.0 in the classroom.

9. Knowtes - This is an excellent tool which could be used in many different ways. In essence you create revision cards for topics you have studied. These cards can then be viewed, commented upon and used to test you. You can rate how well you know a particular card to control how often it appears in the test. You can create a double sided card with a question and answer which flips over. Completed 'Decks' can then be shared with others or copyrighted. Click Here to visit a quick example.



10. Lexicon - This site contains 6 interactive graphic organizers on the free tool and another 10 on a paid version. They are fairly simple. but they work and the result can be saved or printed. You could maybe use these projected or on an interactive white board where pupils might enjoy draagging the items around the page.

11.. Recall Plus - This is a downloadable tool rather than web based. However, it has a unique feature that makes it worth looking at. Recall Plus allows the user to create a concept map with a revision test. The maps are not as sophisticated as dedicated mindmapping software, nevertheless worth looking at if you want to create flash cards for revision. Perhaps you could get your students to make the cards as a revision exercise and test each other.

12. Visuwords - This tool is a free visual dictionary. Enter the word you want to find and a map will be produced of your word and any related words. By rolling over the word you will be given the definition. This is part dictionary, part thesarus and a useful tool for anyone who wants to explore word associations and meaings.



13. My Webspiration - This is an online visual thinking tool. You can create diagrams, flowcharts and also change the view to present your diagram in a more traditional written document. This can be done as an individual or collaboratively with a group. My Wepspiration is the web based version of a popular web thinking tool, Inspiration. It is currently on a free beta and I would expect will eventually become a paid for tool.

14. Museumbox - This tool is intended for history teachers but I'm sure would work just as well for other subjects. In essence you have to gather together evidence on a topic. This can be in the form of video, audio, word files etc. It could be used as a presentational tool for the different elements on a project. The final product is in the form of a museum shelf with the various artefacts collected within it.

15. Virsona - I really like the idea behind this tool. You start by creating an online version of yourself, or a famous character. You then populate the character with information and it learns as you go on. When a visitor asks the character a question it provides an answer based on what it has learnt so far. If you don''t like the answer you can teach it a new one. Characters can be private, public or created within a group. You could use this tool to learn about a historical character, perhaps allow several groups to create the same character and see who's becomes the most intelligent or accurate. This would allow some formative assessment as they engage in discussions about which is the best. You can also do experiences such as a day at the beach, what is it like to live in Africa etc. which might be another interesting use. Interested, have a virtual chat with Abraham Lincoln by clicking here.




16. Solver - As the title suggests this is a decision making/problem solving tool. You start with your problem/decision and then add a series of solutions/comments or further problems. You can also vote on the ideas to create a simple rank order wihch is a useful addition. Quick and simple compared to similar tools and collaboration is through a shared URL so relatively secure- Worth a look if you want to get students to discuss a problem.


17. Image Detective - this tool should be of particular interest to historians. It shows how historians use a photographic source to gather information. Your evidence and conclusion can then be compared to other students or teachers ideas. A clever tool but unfortunately you cannot add your own photo which would give it wider appeal.


18. Brain Reactions - This tool is designed to generate as many ideas as possible. You start off with a question or problem and people suggest their ideas. There is no ability to comment on the ideas as with Solvr but as the website points out that is not what it is designed to do. That said there is a voting system to allow people to vote for their best ideas. Worth a look.

19. Wridea - This is a brainstorming tool which enables you to share your ideas with others for commenting on. There also appears to be a tool to match your ideas with other similar ideas but I didn't get a chance to try it.

20. Word Magnets - This is a simple little tool which is well worth a look, especially for interactive whiteboard users. You create a list of words and choose a background, venn diagram, hierarchy etc. then move the words to the appropriate place on the diagram. You could also play word dominoes where students have to place words together and guess the connections.

21. Creately - This is basically a chart and diagram drawing tool. The difference with this over other similar tools is that it claims to help collaborative drawing. The free version is limited to 5 contributors but this is likely to be fine for most classroom use. Another feature worth considering is that there are a number of preformatted writing frames/visual thinking diagrams. There are a number of sites which allow you to print a paper version but this seems to offer the chance for pupils to complete them online and collaboratively. If so this could be a site well worth visiting.