Inspiration Or Webspiration software

[OnMyOwn]

Does anyone know which of these would be better for a late high school student? I can't tell if there is a difference in the way these two software products work or if one is just sold with online access and the other is sold as a download.

[Heathermomster]

DS uses Inspiration and Xmind.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Heathermomster

[OnMyOwn]

I'll have to take a look at Xmind. I've never heard of it before. Does your ds use them for different types of things? Does he prefer one over the other?

[AliR]

DD uses Inspiration on a MacBook.  One problem that has not been rectified by technical support is being able to export the output into a word processor, which is a nuisance as things need retyping that should not need to be retyped.  It is still a great help for building the structure of a piece of work though.

[Heathermomster]

Xmind is free. DS uses it on his laptop that is loaded with the Ubuntu OS.

 

When DS needs to transfer the Inspiration file into a word doc, he emails himself the outline of the map as text and then cuts and pastes it into the doc once received. He uses The Inspiration iPad app.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Heathermomster

[OnMyOwn]

I did go ahead and download the trial version of Inspiration onto my son's laptop last night and played around with it. The pc version did export it into a word doc for me without any issues. I'm not sure if this will be a help to my son or not, but we're going to try it. I had heard about Kidspiration many years ago when he was in elementary but I didn't think he'd really like it then. He has a big research paper coming up and this will be a great opportunity to try it out. Thanks!

 

I think webspiration may be the same software, but it is being marketed to college students and business people. It is also available on the web instead of as a download for $6/month.

Edited October 4, 2016 by OnMyOwn

[geodob]

A major part of this software, is learning how to use it, and what it can do?

You could start with downloading a free trial of Kidspiration, which has some good tutorials for learning how to use it.

Many adults use this version, as it is simpler to use and does everything that they need.

 

So that he start with this, and become familiar with it.

Then download a free trial of Inspiration, where he could try it and see if the extra things it has, are useful?

 

This could then be followed with a free trial of Webspiration?

 

So that he could then make an informed choice, about which one suits what he needs.

[OnMyOwn]

Well, my ds used Inspiration for the first half of his research paper and it was a bust for him. He went ahead and made an outline for the second half on paper like he normally does and that was so much easier and more effective for him. We've tried graphic organizers in the past and they've never worked for him, so I don't see it as a problem with the software, but that it just isn't a good method for him. He is not a visual person and all the little bubbles on the screen were just overwhelming for him.