Both programs were new to me, so I am glad to have had some time to play with them. For both, I looked at how it could be useful for my students and myself. I think that Lucidchart is a full featured program that probably has too much functionality for what I, or my students, would need. I can relate it to Photoshop. I need to be able to edit my photos, but I don't have the need of all of the complexity or depth of that program. Similarly, Lucidchart has a lot of options that simply clutter the working space.
On the flip side, I think that Mindmup is a great alternative. It is simple, intuitive, and it does what I, and my students, need. Visually, it is much nicer looking (both the program and the final products) than Lucidchart. I could see my students using this to help them brainstorm for their upcoming short stories, or their essays earlier in the year.
I posted on the following blogs:
Pao V
Bill Laulo
In Grade 6, we have a unit where the students learn about different types of governments and societies. Their performance task sees them working together to create their own ideal society and then justifying it. This MindMup is an example of the prewriting they do before writing their essays justifying their choices.
Government: Theocracy on MindMup
This Lucidchart was created as a simple example of a story string. Grade 6 students are exploring short stories in their last unit of the year, and they will be creating their own story strings.
Jeff, thanks for the post. I agree with your comparison of Lucidchart to Photoshop, and I definitely felt overwhelmed by all of the options. Glad you found that MindMup will still meet the needs of your students. One of the things I like about all of these free web tools is that there is almost always something out there, somewhere, that is a good fit for whatever your needs may be. Thanks again!
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