Today we were writing a simple flow diagram for an explanatory text about drive belts. So I planned to use Gliffy, the online diagram tool, to do the job. I was really pleased with how things worked and the user friendly nature of it all.
It is a free to register site and has all the functionality you would expect. I was happy with it but I did ask myself whether I could have got similar results using SMART Notebook? What was I doing that is different?
Well the transformation of the activity lies in it’s potential. Today I scratched the surface and we just used it to create a diagram, but when you plan to collaborate on a diagram with others – then it becomes a different game entirely. Two classes could collaborate on the same diagram, maybe two classes in the same year group (same school) and then from the wider community too.
There is also the inherent “Share” feature as with many web 2.0 tools nowadays – the ability to embed into websites or blogs using, in this case, java or linking quickly to an image file of various sizes. I found this very useful.
I did find the resizing of text to be a little fiddly it could do with being able to resize along with the shape it lies in.
The images you can see in my example were straight from the Image Search tool in the left panel – which is a nice touch, being able to search right there. (You can also upload your own images to the left panel to insert)
All in all a good tool to have in the locker when exploring this sort of diagram authoring.
Thanks for the review of Gliffy. We are very appreciative. Readers may be happy to hear our diagrams now offer tags! If you have any suggestions and/or feedback please drop us a line at our newly revamped website! Thanks,
debik at gliffy dot com
Hi Tom,
Gliffy is fun and I hope to use it with some of our Grade 5-6 students soon. We’ll be looking to use it for students to map out the direction of what we are terming a “passion project”. I’ve also messed about with a Gliffy diagram in my blog looking to develop a “quilt” of reasons why teachers blog. A couple of colleagues have contributed, if you have the time, it would be neat if you could contribute too. The URL for the blog entry is http://johnp.wordpress.com/why-teachers-blog/. If you want to add to the diagram I will need an email address so that I can join you up with the Gliffy diagram.
Hi Tom
Thanks for sharing this on two counts, firstly; it’s been a while since I played with Gliffy, so it’s great to see they have added the facility to search for images; and even better, to upload your own. These two make it a really u
Secondly, and more importantly; as you mention the ability to work collaboratively on diagrams will be invaluable to educators and learners. I look forward to seeing what people come up with. One further feature Gliffy might consider is the ability to add tags to diagrams.