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Software Review Inspiration 9

EDTC 600
Santiago Ser
September 27, 2013
INSPIRATION 9: A VISUAL MAPPING SOFTWARE REVIEW
Many times educators are unable to gauge students writing ability because students do
not have the tools to use during the beginning steps of the writing process. During the
brainstorming phase in the writing process, teachers will hand out varying graphic organizers to
students so that they can put their thoughts in a logical and visual way. What happens to those
students with writing difficulties such as dysgraphia, fine motor delays, and indecipherable
penmanship? These graphic organizers are not as useful tools as they are for the rest of the
students in the classroom. This is why many companies have created virtual graphic organizers
for students to use. These softwares and websites provide students that have difficulty with
handwriting the same opportunity and access to educational tools as their rest of their classmates.
This essay will focus on a software dedicated to virtual visual mapping. The software, Inspiration
9, was published by Inspiration Software Inc. in 2012 and comes in purchasable DVD format.
This software will be compared to a different yet similar website, FreeMind, a free downloadable
software from an unknown publisher.
Educational Value
Inspiration is intended for visual learners to remember, access, and comprehend concepts
and ideas through visual mapping. This software allows both students and adults to access and
manipulate content despite having any fine motor skill issue or disability. Inspiration is a
software that allows students to develop visual thinking skills. This means that students are using

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visual information to make sense of ideas, concepts, words, etc. (Inspiration.com, 2013) The
software works on the following skills: webbing, mind plotting, outlining, concept mapping,
graphic organizers and plots and graphs. (Inspiration.com, 2013) In the classroom this can mean
the difference between an A paper, an A timeline, or an A graph and a mediocre final product. All
students can benefit from this software; however, the population best served by this product are
visual learners and students who have dysgraphia, fine motor issues or the like. These students
are now able to put their thoughts in a graphic organizer without being tired out by their hands,
frustrated, or even disappointed when they are not able to read what they just finished writing. It
presents them a positive opportunity to embark in the writing process, in a social studies
exploration of Christopher Columbus, or in a deep analysis of a mathematical graph.
Inspiration enables students to demonstrate deeper understanding and critical thinking
skills by allowing them to use a computer. Many times, students with these types of diagnosis
often foster a strong dislike for writing because their writing and thoughts are hindered by their
inability to produce work. For example, a student who has dysgraphia but is labeled gifted and
talented is usually not able to demonstrate her knowledge and deep thinking because her hands
get too tired or she feels frustrated that she cannot read back her own work. These can present
itself in various ways, some including acting out or mislabeling her as lazy or uncooperative.
Inspiration takes away the stress and the handwriting portion of it permitting her to showcase her
true potential. At the elementary school level, as with the rest of the levels, students are expected
to go through the writing process.
The most important quality to this software is the fact that students are creating their own
graphic organizers, webs, charts, and graphs. Students are actively involved in the creation of the
tool that they will use to complete the assignment, task, or project. Besides allowing students to

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critically think of new concepts, it allows students a level of creativity that will engage them
further. This is a better way of using graphic organizers as it is student-created and not something
that a teacher passed out to the class. Students are taking ownership of their own education and
learning process.
The software doesnt have any negatives in its educational value. It is applicable to
almost any subject at school. Whether it is needed for writing, social studies, science, math or
even doing a book report presentation, Inspiration allows students to visually conceptualize,
create, and analyze new ideas and concepts.
Level of Interest
Inspiration is interesting in the sense that it can accomplish many different things and will
save time for many students. It has the ability to be applicable in many different classes so
students do not need to learn to use four or five different softwares. Instead, they can simply
learn to use Inspiration which will help them in all their subjects. The software comes with a
variety of options and graphics when creating graphic organizers. Not all organizers need to have
the typical bubbles; they can be stars, rectangles, clouds or other shapes. It also has various
images from a wide set of subjects and topics. It almost resembles Words clipart but organized
more on academic subjects. As stated earlier, students are creating their own tools for learning.
According to Roblyer and Doering (2013), Students who learn by creating their own products
with technologies report higher engagement in learning and a greater sense of pride in their
achievements. The fact that students are engaging to this degree means that they are more
interested in what they are doing and are better participating in the learning process.
The interface itself is not the most appealing to a younger population. It is very bland
with a gray background and a blue navigation bar. Though one can change the color of the

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bubbles, ironically, it is still not visually stimulating. Inspiration Software Inc. does have another
software, Inspiration 3, which is more applicable for a younger audience. That software is very
stimulating and has more interest value than Inspiration 9. The problem with Inspiration 3 is that
it looks too young. Fourth and fifth graders may not respond positively to the young looking
interface. That has been my experience in my classroom.
Absence of Bias
Inspiration is accessible to all students despite gender, race or socioeconomic
status. Due to the lack of characters in Inspiration, there is no racial/ethnic bias. The software
includes four voices for students who need auditory support: Paulina, Anna, Ava and Tom. The
last three have an American accent and Paulina has a Spanish accent. Any other race/ethnicity
does not get their own voice.
The software seems to be more accessible for students who are not visually impaired.
Any students with any major visual impairment like blindness would not be able to use this
software. Inspiration also serves a population from a wide range of abilities. Nothing in the
software prevents students with learning disabilities or other forms of learning differences from
engaging and using the software. In fact, this software could be considered as an assistive
technology as it allows students with fine motors skills to demonstrate a better sense of their true
potential.
Ease of Use/Installation
Inspiration is very easy to use. The interface is pretty intuitive allowing even the most
beginning user to be able to figure it out. Young students would need direct instruction in how to
use the software but they are quick to catch on. After giving them ten minutes to play with the
software, most students in my fourth and fifth grade classes were able to figure it out with no

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instructions. The rest of the class needed a simple five minute tutorial and were then ready to use
it. Once one needs to use the more complex feature, the software provide very specific and easy
to follow tutorials on every type of map one can create. This feature can be found under the help
tool. The software can either be installed or downloaded after purchasing it. The entire process is
quick and simple.
Comparison to FreeMind
Compared to Inspiration, FreeMind offers a very similar product. There are several
differences, but the main purpose of visual mapping concepts and ideas remains the same.
FreeMind does not offer premade outlines, graphic organizers or charts. It is also mostly for
subjects where language arts plays a lead role. It does not offer the same supports for graphs or
any other mathematical concepts. It mostly allows a user to create a simple web.
The level of interest compared to Inspiration might be less due to the complexity of use.
After playing with the software for quite some time, I was not able to do anything but the most
basic of things. On top of that, the interface is rather confusing and not easy to use. The
installation of the software was much quicker than Inspiration. Of course, one also has to
consider the fact that FreeMind is free where as the cheapest for of Inspiration costs 39.95.
Overall
Inspiration would receive a rating of 4.5 out of 5, five being absolutely perfect. After
reviewing the software and implementing it in my classroom, Inspiration shows that it has
multiple uses and can reach numerous subject areas. Its user friendly interface engages students
of various ages enabling them not only to think critically but create, analyze and comprehend
new concepts and ideas in a visual manner.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
FreeMind (2012). FreeMind. Retrieved from http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php
/Main_Page
Inspiration 9 (2013). Insiparion.com. Retrieved from http://www.inspiration.com/Inspiration [
Roblyer, M.D., & Doering, A.H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching.
Boston: Pearson.

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Software Publication Information Form

Fill out the requested information below; then cut and paste this page to the back of your
software review essay. You should still place the name of the software, its publisher, and the
date the software was released in your introductory paragraph of your essay.

A. Title of Main Software: Inspiration

Version: 9.1

Medium: CD and Internet

Publisher: Inspiration Software, Inc.

Year: Copyright 2012

Cost: (individual, single, school, if available)

Single
$39.95
Single Upgrade $23.97
5-Computer license
$199.75
10-Computer license $380.00
20-Computer license $640.00
URL for Publisher or Website link to software:
http://www.inspiration.com/
http://www.inspiration.com/Inspiration
Target Grade(s) /Age(s): Grades 6 - Adults
Subject(s) Language Arts, Social Studies, Science
System Requirements:
PC: Windows : XP, Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8
Mac: Macintosh : OS X 10.6, 10.7 & 10.8

B. Title of Comparative Software: FreeMind

Version: 0.90.

Medium : Internet

Publisher: Unknown

Year: 2009

Cost: Free

URL for Publisher or Website link to software:

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page#Download_and_install

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Target Grade(s) /Age(s): No specific targeted grades but I would assume 6 th
grade and up
Subject(s) Language Arts, Social Studies, Science
System Requirements:
PC:
Mac:
Windows Installer Min 6
Mac OS X
MAC OS X
Windows Installer Max 14
Linux Debian Linux

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