Inspiration 10: now available on Windows SE
Bringing mind mapping to a wider education audience!
Our friends at Inspiration this year became the first visual mapping application to be approved for Windows SE - an education-focused edition of Windows running on web-first devices, and offering essential education apps. Acceptance onto this system is a testament to the hard work and expertise of the team at TechEdology (makers of Inspiration), and so we put a few questions to founder Reeza Awoodun to learn more!
Q. What are the requirements to be validated as an “Essential Education” app?
A school district has to nominate the app to be approved for Windows 11 SE, and there is a Microsoft request form to be completed by the school district. Therefore it is educationalists who are providing the initial validation. Once this form is submitted, Microsoft will assess the app. In our case, they researched the product information we had on our website, as well as the evidence we had that Inspiration was being actively used in schools — e.g. case studies and testimonials. Also, because Inspiration 10 has a strong pedigree as an assistive technology tool, it could be classified as an assistive technology app — which is one of the 5 categories an app has to fit into.
- Content Filtering apps
- Test Taking solutions
- Assistive technologies
- Classroom communication apps
- Essential diagnostics, management, and supportability apps
Once validated as an essential education app, Inspiration 10 had to go through rigorous technical testing — ensuring it met the performance requirements of Windows 11, as well as Microsoft’s security requirements.
The other thing to note is that the app cannot have a web equivalent version.
Q. As the first visual/ mind mapping tool to be approved by Microsoft in this context, do you think this is validation of your education focus over many years?
Yes, this was an advantage as we clearly had a lot of evidence that Inspiration 10 was being actively used in schools and we had lots of tangible evidence of its impact. Plus, it is our education customers who nominated Inspiration 10 to be approved.
Q. Why does Inspiration resonate with education users in particular?
We keep things simple by focusing Inspiration 10 as a tool for capturing, organising and communicating thinking. This is the key pain point all educationalists are trying to solve. We don’t try to overload Inspiration with features that can distract from this purpose, ensuring learners remain focused. This makes Inspiration 10 quick and easy to learn.
Tools within Inspiration 10 are specifically designed to encourage critical thinking and a deeper understanding of topics. For example, the link phrase bank encourages students to evaluate and explain why one idea is connected to another. Getting students to do this allows a teacher to efficiently assess the understanding of students, as well as clearly identify any misconceptions, which can then be worked through visually.
The Diagram View is popular with educationalists, as it allows highly customised diagrams such as concept maps to be produced quickly. Inspiration excels at this. Inspiration 10 makes it quick and easy for educators to produce diagrams and graphic organisers that support the teaching of curriculum concepts in an accessible format for all students. Tricky concepts that can be difficult to explain verbally in class or in text, can be concisely summarised in an engaging visual map. For example, creating a concept map covering difficult topics in science, technology and engineering. This allows students to easily synthesise the information and deepen their understanding.
Finally, as we make it so easy to transform diagrams and mind maps into a written outline, users quickly move seamlessly from the prewriting stage to the writing stage. When users see this the first time, it is often a ‘wow’ moment. Plus, as Inspiration 10 has a full featured outlining tool, they can continue to write within this workspace. Because both views are synchronised, users can switch back and forth between the visual view and the outline view. The final work can then be exported out, such as a Word or PowerPoint document.
Q. What do you see from learners as the primary use case for Inspiration?
In education, learners are primarily using Inspiration 10 for:
- Supporting their pre-writing and writing process
- Planning out assignments
- Visual notetaking and revision
A lot of our templates are designed to support this.
Q. There seems to be growing momentum around Assistive Tech over the last few years across the world, what is driving this?
The main driver is growing cultural acceptance that we need to make our learning, workplace and general environment more accessible to people with neuro differences or disabilities. This is being reflected in government policies and laws that are being put into place. Plus, increased government funding to stimulate this change.
For many organisations, one of the cornerstones to making their environments more inclusive is the implementation of assistive technology. More funding is being designated into this area.
In education, the popularity of Universal Design of Learning is driving the adoption of AT too.
But the distinction between general technology and assistive technology is becoming more blurred, as general technology strives to be more accessible. For example, Microsoft, Google and Apple have introduced lots of AT features within their operating systems and applications.
Congratulations to Reeza and the team for this great landmark achievement!
To learn more about Inspiration, visit inspiration-at.com
