Inspiration 5.0 Tutorial

IT 3210: Teachers and Technology
IT 7360: Technology for Educators
Software Help Sheet

Unit 4: Making Life Easier
Sharing Thoughts and Ideas
Creating Cognitive Maps with Inspiration 5.0

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INSPIRATION is a visual learning tool that inspires students to develop and organize their ideas. It supports visual thinking techniques, enabling students to easily create and update graphic organizers, concept maps, idea maps and other visual diagrams. It supports numerous classroom activities, including

Outlining,
Organizing,
Planning,
Diagramming,
Brainstorming, and
Webbing.

Inspiration integrates a diagramming (graphic) and an outline (text) environment. You use the diagramming environment to create and modify concept maps, webs, diagrams, knowledge maps, and graphical organizers. The outline view can be used to quickly prioritize and rearrange ideas, leading to clear, concise writing.

For more information about Inspiration software, see their web site at:

http://www.inspiration.com

Getting Started:

Launch Inspiration.

To launch the program, from the Start menu, go to Programs, to Inspiration.

Working in Diagram View.

When you launch Inspiration, you're in Diagram view.

Entering the Main Idea.

1. The Main Idea Symbol appears in the center of your screen with the placeholder text, Main Idea, already selected.

Type your main idea: Family Vacation.

2.Press Shift+Enter to end text entry and select the symbol.

Adding ideas to your diagram

As part of our planning, we're going to enter what each family member wants to do on vacation. First, we'll add the idea symbol What we want to do. Then we'll add an idea symbol for Mom.

Use the Create tool to add an idea

Family Vacation

2. When you point to an arrow on the Create button, it is highlighted to show you the direction in which the new idea symbol will be created.

3. Click the Down arrow.

4. The new symbol appears connected to and below the Family Vacation symbol.
Type What we want to do.

5. Now add a symbol for Mom. On the Diagram toolbar, position the pointer over the Lower Right Diagonal arrow on the diagonal Create button.

Click the Lower Right Diagonal arrow.
The new symbol appears connected to and diagonally below the What we want to do symbol.

5. Type Mom.

6. Press Shift+Enter to end text entry.

Let's take a look at what you've created so far:

Tip... You can use the position tool to reposition your diagram in the window. It's useful when you want some space where you can add more symbols. Just click the Position button then click and drag the diagram until it's positioned where you want it. Click the button again to turn it off.

Using the RapidFire tool

We're going to use Inspiration's RapidFire® tool to enter the things Mom wants to do while on vacation. You use RapidFire when you want to brainstorm, capturing your ideas quickly without worrying about their order. You add ideas right into the selected symbol, letting Inspiration create new symbols for your ideas.

Mom

2. The RapidFire icon appears in the symbol to show you the tool is turned on. You're ready to begin typing ideas.

3. Type Sun, then press Enter.
Once you start working in RapidFire, you use the Enter key to separate your ideas.

4. Type Scuba.

5. Click the RapidFire button to turn it off.

Aside... If you see that you've made a mistake while typing text in a symbol, don't worry. It's easy to fix. Double-click the text in the symbol, then select the words you want to change and type over them. You can also insert text by clicking where you want to make the correction and entering the new text.

Using the Symbol tool

The Symbol tool lets you add a new symbol in any direction you choose. We will add a Dad symbol and a couple of things he wants to do.

1. Click the What we want to do symbol to select it.

2. When you select a symbol, it looks like this:

3. On the Diagram toolbar, click the Symbol button.

4. The pointer becomes a cross-hair .

Mom

6. The new symbol appears, connected to the one you selected.

7. Type Dad.

8. On the Diagram toolbar, click the Symbol button again.

9. You're going to be adding symbols here:

10. Click below Dad and to the left to add the first symbol.
A new symbol is created that's connected to Dad.

11. Click the Dad symbol to tell Inspiration you want to create another symbol connected to it.

12. Click below Dad and to the right to add the second symbol.

13. In the selected symbol, type Play golf.

14. Click the other symbol to select it, then type Fish.

Changing the view scale
It's helpful to zoom in and out when you're working on your diagram. Sometimes you want to take a closer look at a section; at other times, you want to see more of your diagram in the window.

On the scroll bar at the bottom left of the window, click the Zoom Out button.

Drag and drop to add symbols
Inspiration has hundreds of symbols you can use in your diagram. Here, we'll add one of the six basic symbols, the rounded rectangle, to the diagram using drag and drop.

1. On the Symbol palette, locate the rounded rectangle symbol.

2. Click and drag the symbol until it's positioned below the Fish symbol and slightly to the left, then release the mouse button.

When you add a symbol using drag and drop, the symbol is not connected to any other symbols. You can link it later using the Link tool on the Diagram toolbar.

3. Type Marlin in the new rounded rectangle symbol. Adding unconnected ideas
Sometimes when you're working you want to add an idea, but you're not sure right away where it fits. You can easily add an unconnected idea anywhere on the diagram with Inspiration's point-and-type method. For now, let's add an idea symbol on the diagram to represent Sarah, another member of the family.

1. Click in the open area on your diagram under the Scuba symbol, then type Sarah.

Sarah

2. Click away from the Sarah symbol to deselect it. Link the unconnected symbols to show how they relate to other ideas

We'll link the What we want to do symbol to the Sarah symbol so that we can include Sarah's ideas in our planning. To show that Fish and Marlin are related, we're also going to draw a link that connects those two idea symbols.

1.    On the Diagram toolbar, click the Link button.

2.    The cursor becomes a two-headed arrow.
3.    Click the What we want to do symbol to tell Inspiration where you want to draw the link from (the primary symbol).
4.    Click the Sarah symbol to indicate where you want to draw the link to (the secondary symbol).
5. The link    appears, connecting the primary to the secondary symbol. The arrow head points to Sarah to show that it's an offshoot of the What we want to do idea symbol.
6.    Now let's link the other unconnected symbol, Marlin, with the idea symbol, Fish.
7.    Click the Fish symbol to tell Inspiration from where you want to draw the link (the primary symbol).
8.    Click the Marlin symbol to indicate to where you want to draw the link (the secondary symbol).
The link appears, connecting the primary to the secondary symbol.
9.    Click the Link button again to turn it off.

Add text on the link

You can add text on a link to describe the relationship between the linked ideas. Here, you will add the word for so it's clear that the connection is that Dad wants to fish for marlin.

Select the link that connects Fish and Marlin if it isn't already selected. When the link is selected, you see the outline of the text box area on the link. It's ready for you to begin typing.
Type for, then click outside of the diagram to deselect the link.

Move idea symbols around

Moving symbols is easy. Here, you will reposition the Marlin symbol so that it's a bit lower on the diagram.

Click and drag the Marlin symbol down one grid square and release the mouse button, then click outside of the diagram to deselect the symbol. If you need to move the symbol again to position it to your satisfaction, just click and drag it again until it's where you want it.

Notice how Inspiration keeps the link connected for you as you move the symbol. That way, you don't lose the connection between ideas when you move them around on your diagram.

Changing symbol shapes

Here, we'll make a section of the diagram stand out by changing the shape of the symbols. In this case, we're going to select Dad and his vacation preferences and change these symbols all at the same time to make them easy to identify.

To select the symbols, hold down the Shift key and click Dad, Fish, and Play Golf.
On the Symbol palette, click the rounded rectangle symbol.
The selected symbols take on the new shape.

Working in Outline view

Inspiration has two views or environments in which you can work, a Diagram view and an Outline view. While you have been working in Diagram view creating a visual diagram, Inspiration has been building an outline of your work.

Switch to Outline view

On the Diagram toolbar, click the Outline button

Your diagram appears as an outline. The idea symbols you added in Diagram view appear as topics and subtopics. Your link text does not appear as part of your outline, but it is available in Diagram view.

The + next to the Mom topic indicates the topic has subtopics. The - next to the Sarah topic indicates the topic has no subtopics.

Add a subtopic

Adding ideas in the Outline view is as simple as adding an idea symbol in Diagram view.

Select the topic Mom by clicking to the left of the topic prefix.

On the Outline toolbar, click the Add Sub button.

A new subtopic is created below Mom. It's indented one level in your outline.

Type Swim.

Add a topic

Now we're going to add Snorkeling.

Select the topic Sarah by clicking to the left of the topic prefix.
On the Outline toolbar, click the Add Topic button.

Inspiration inserts a new topic and the cursor moves to the next line so you're ready to type.

Type Snorkeling.

Change the level of a topic
In Outline view, you can move a topic to the right or to the left, changing its level of importance. Snorkeling is something Sarah really wants to do, so let's change the Snorkeling topic to a subtopic under Sarah.

On the Outline toolbar, click the Right button.

The topic, Snorkeling, moves to the right, so that it's now a subtopic to Sarah.

Printing your outline

When you print your outline, Inspiration automatically includes all topics, subtopics and notes text. Inspiration also prints a header at the top of each page. You can change what is to appear in the header or choose to print no header by changing the settings in the Outline Properties dialog box.

You can preview what your outline is going to look like, and then print it.

On the File menu, choose Print Preview.
Your outline appears onscreen so you can see how it will look on the page.
To print your outline, click Print. If you do not want to print your outline, click Cancel to return to the Outline view.
When the Print dialog box appears, click Print (OK).
Your outline prints.

Return to Diagram view Now let's return to Diagram view so you can format what you've created. When you return to Diagram view, you will find that the symbols have changed to reflect the work you did in Outline view.

While you're still in Outline view, select the topic Snorkeling so that it will be selected and you can find it quickly when you return to Diagram view.

To return to Diagram view, on the Outline toolbar, click the Diagram button.

You can see that the new topics you added in Outline view, like Snorkeling, appear as idea symbols.

Changing the font used for your idea symbols

You will want to use your favorite font in your idea symbols. Let's select all the symbols and change the font.

To select all the symbols on your diagram, on the Edit menu, choose Select, then choose Symbols.
On the Format menu, choose Font, then select the font you'd like to use.
The text in all the idea symbols changes to the new font.

Arranging your diagram into a tree chart

The Arrange tool lets you change your diagram into various kinds of tree charts. We'll use the Arrange tool to change the format of the diagram from a cluster to a top down tree chart.

On the Diagram toolbar, click the Arrange button

The Arrange dialog box appears.

Review the selections in the dialog box.

Use these default settings:

Under Diagram Type, Top Down Tree is selected.
Entire Diagram is selected.
In the Links drop-down list, Auto-90 is selected.
Under Lowest Level Stacking Models, No Stack is selected.

Click OK.

Inspiration arranges the diagram with the Main Idea symbol at the top, and the remaining idea symbols in order beneath it.

Tip... You can further customize your diagram by changing the color of symbols, links and text. Just select the item whose color you want to change, then click the appropriate color button on the Draw toolbar--either Fill Color, Line Color or Text Color.

Resize the diagram so it fits in the window

Let's change the view scale so that we can see the entire diagram in the window.

On the scroll bar at the bottom left of the window, click the Percentage box to the left of the Zoom buttons, then select Fit To Window.

You've finished your diagram!

Congratulations. You've finished creating your Family Vacation diagram. Your diagram should look something like this:

Printing your diagram

Inspiration gives you lots of ways to print your diagram. One of the easiest ways is to automatically print the diagram so that it fits on one page.

Note: Inspiration Diagrams take a very long time to print in this computer lab. If you do decide to go ahead and print it, be prepared to wait. And please, only print it once. It will remain in the print queue until it is ready to print.

Set up your diagram for printing

On the File menu, choose Print Options.
In the Print Options dialog box, select Fit To 1 Page.
Click OK.

Then preview it

On the File menu, choose Print Preview.

Inspiration shows you what your printed page will look like so you can return to your diagram and make adjustments if you wish.

And print

In the Print Preview window, click Print. If you do not want to print your diagram, click Cancel to return to the Diagram view.
In the printer dialog box for your printer, make your choices, then click OK.

Close Inspiration

You've now had a quick introduction to some of Inspiration's features. You can create a diagram and work on your outline, change the look, move things around, and lots more.

On the File menu, choose Exit.
Click Yes to save the sample document or No to close Inspiration without saving the document.

A Final Note: these directions have been adapted from a longer tutorial, available on-line at:

http://www.inspiration.com/K12Tutorial/k12tutorial.html