Amy Rathgeb

Information Technologies in Educational Organizations (IST 611)

Professor Marilyn Arnone
September 27, 2016
Assignment 1
Task 1: Description of technology (SpiderScribe)
Title: SpiderScribe
URL: www.spiderscribe.net
Description: Cloud based collaborative mind mapping tool that allows
you to organize your ideas by connecting notes, images, maps, files
and calendar events in a map. Maps can be individual or collaborative
and are stored in the cloud, so they can be accessed anywhere. You
can combine different types of media by using customizable stencils.
Personal accounts are free, while business and education account are
available for a fee. Mind maps can be printed.
Strengths:
Easy to use, well-marked functions
Facilitates collaboration with teams
Drag and drop feature
Versatile can be used for processes or final products
Incorporates images, maps and calendar events
Visual
Intuitive
Printable final product
Weaknesses:
Visually somewhat unappealing compared with other mind
mapping tools
Few fonts to choose from
Work area cramped/small function buttons
Somewhat limited in capabilities (free version)
A bit more unstructured than other mind mapping tools
Special features:
Drag and drop feature makes the tool easy to manipulate
Serves a number of purposes, such as planning, brainstorming,
or creating finished pieces like timelines.

Allows you to incorporate text notes, images, maps and calendar

events, unlike most other mind mapping tools
Cloud storage means teams can collaborate remotely and access
the map anywhere

Title and URL to similar tools that serve the same purpose:
MindMup (www.mindmup.com)
Coggle (www.coggle.it)
XMind (www.xmind.net)
MindMeister (www.mindmeister.com)
Popplet (www.popplet.com)
Mindomo (www.mindomo.com)
Comparison of SpiderScribe to similar tools:
SpiderScribe is unique in that it is possible to easily attach a range of
items to the map, like maps, calendar events, images and files.
However, it is less visually appealing than a mapping tool like Popplet,
which creates more visually appealing maps that are colorfully and
have nicer design features. Popplet maps are also a bit more organized
than SpiderScribe, as they are more fixed on the screen, which might
be an advantage when working with students. SpiderScribe map parts
are all moveable and I can see it being a bit of a challenge
organizationally. Mindomo is useful because it links directly to other
apps like Google Apps and Office 365, and is easily accessible from
Learning Management Systems like Blackboard. It also allows students
to share their maps in a slide show to show the evolution of a project.
And unlike SpiderScribe, you can add images directly from the Web to
the map, instead of downloading them first. It also provides mind map
templates that students can use when they are first trying mind
mapping, which is a good scaffolding feature. Coggle has a nice drag
and drop feature that makes it easy to add items to your map. It has a
comment and chat feature which is a nice tool for collaboration and it
tracks the changes so there is accountability for who changed what. It
also keeps a historical record of the changes made.