MINDTOOLS

'Mindtools' are simple bits of software, usually free, that you use in new and exciting ways to develop higher order thinking and problem solving skills.

According to Jonassen, Carr and Yueh (1998) 'Computers as [|Mindtools] for Engaging Learners in Critical Thinking' //TechTrends,// March, pp. 24-32, Mindtools can be categorised as follows:

=Semantic Organisation Tools= //Help learners to analyse and organise what they know//

Databases
Microsoft Access Relational Database Microsoft Excel Flat File Database [|On-line SQL Course]

Semantic Networking
//Visual - visual concept mappers// CMap - Concept Mapping [|Network Notepad] //for creating communciations network diagrams and System Flow Charts//

=Dynamic Modeling Tools= //Help learners to describe the dynamic relationships among ideas.//

Spreadsheets
MS Excel

Expert Systems
//Simulate the way human experts solve// problems

System Modeling Tools
Microworlds - //exploratory worlds learning environments or discovery spaces.//

=Information Interpretation Tools= //Tools that help learners to access and process information//

Visualisation Tools
//Help learners to represent and convey mental images.//

=//Knowledge Construction Tools//= //Tools based on Seymour Papert's concept of 'constructionism'. Help learners design objects.// Microsoft Paint [|Puzzlemaker]

//Hypermedia//
//Software used to create multimedia products or presentation// Microsoft PowerPoint for StoryBoarding Microsoft FrontPage Microsoft Movie Maker for [|Animations] MS PowerPoint for Animations Wiki-Wiki Web Quests

Converstaion Tools
Electronic Mail Discussion Boards Messaging Interactive Chat Ausio Conferencing Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Video Conferencing

Test page from EdNA