I came across a new site today courtesy of www.go2web20.com called exploratree. This site offers unique templates that help you approach, discuss and solve problems either on your own or with others. In addition to the 23 pre-built templates you can create your own exploratree from scratch.
With Exploratree you can;
> Use ready-made thinking guides
> Make a new thinking guide from scratch
> Use it to set class projects
> Print them out (they can go as big as A0)
> Change and customise thinking guides, you can add or change text, shapes, images etc.
> As a teacher, you can set up the sequence that you want the thinking guide to be revealed, so that you can stage the thinking activity.
> You can fill in a thinking guide and complete your project on the website
> You can present your project
> You can send your thinking guide to a whole group of people
> You can submit a thinking guide for comments, so it can't be edited but just reviewed
> Work in groups on the same thinking guide
The Exploratree web resource has been developed by Futurelab and emerged out of work on the Enquiring Minds project - the project has been funded by Microsoft. While the focus has been on the educational market, I see a lot of potential use in business. Think about using these frameworks for starting strategic planning discussions, market analysis, product reviews, brainstorming, project teams, and the list can go on and on.
I have just signed up for the service which is free. Over the next few weeks I will be playing around with the site and will provide some further comments at that time.
