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Inspiration Software's Premier Visual Learning Tools Earn "Best Products 2010" Honors From iParenting Media Awards
Inspiration Software's Premier Visual Learning Tools Earn "Best Products 2010" Honors From iParenting Media AwardsInspiration and Kidspiration Kick Off New Year With Endorsement From Top Online Parenting Community PORTLAND, Ore. – Jan 27, 2010 Inspiration® Software's premier visual learning tools have kicked off the new year with 2010 Best Products Honors from iParenting Media. Inspiration® and Kidspiration® were selected for the recognition from hundreds of products that were submitted for judging in 17 categories. All products submitted for the iParenting Media Awards Best Products of 2010 underwent a thorough evaluation process by a variety of individuals, including experts and families. This recognition marks both visual learning software tools’ third honor from the parenting community in the last two months. “Having Inspiration and Kidspiration earn recognition as two of the best products of 2010 from iParenting Media is a great way to start the new year,” said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. “It is particularly exciting to know that the parenting community understands the important role that visual learning plays in helping students build thinking and learning skills.” For Inspiration, being named among the Best Products of 2010 by iParenting Media falls closely on the heels of the early January launch of the next generation of the bestselling visual learning software. With Inspiration 9, students will comprehend, create, communicate and achieve more. New capabilities in Inspiration 9, such as support for creating presentations and additional visual learning methodologies, provide an essential framework for thinking and help students develop 21st century skills. The iParenting Media Award Best Products of 2010 is the 19th award for Kidspiration 3 since its launch in early 2008. Kidspiration 3, the visual learning software for students in kindergarten through grade 5, supports young learners as they strengthen reading and writing skills, build conceptual understanding in math and develop thinking skills across the curriculum. About iParenting Media iParenting.com, an online community for parents and parents-to-be, is part of Disney Online’s network of family-focused Web sites including Disney Family.com, FamilyFun.com and Wondertime.com. Founded in 1996, the company has grown from a single pregnancy site, www.PregancyToday.com, to an award-winning network of more than 40 sites, in English and Spanish. The iParenting sites address a range of parenting issues from preconception through raising teenagers and beyond. iParenting Media’s Editor-in-Chief Elisa Ast All, MSJ, writes a monthly newspaper column and co-hosts a Chicago-based radio show, Points on Parenting. iParenting Media produces the highly respected iParenting Media Awards program, an ISO9001:2000 certified product review and awards program. Consumers can learn more about products winning iParenting Media Awards, and where to purchase the products via a retailer network online directory, by visiting http://www.iParentingMediaAwards.com/consumer. About Inspiration Software, Inc. Students Will Comprehend, Create, Communicate and Achieve With Inspiration 9, Unveiled Today by Inspiration SoftwareNewest Version of Leader in Visual Thinking and Learning’s Flagship Software Designed to Build 21st Century Communication and Thinking Skills PORTLAND, Ore. – Jan 5, 2010 Inspiration® Software, Inc., the leader in visual thinking and learning, today unveiled Inspiration® 9, the ultimate thinking and learning tool to comprehend, create, communicate and achieve more. With the ninth generation of its flagship software, the company is taking the proven ways that visual learning builds critical-thinking skills and improves student achievement in new directions, making the world's bestselling visual learning tool even more powerful. New capabilities in Inspiration 9, such as support for creating presentations and additional visual learning methodologies, provide an essential framework for thinking and help students develop 21st century skills. Since its debut more than two decades ago, Inspiration has garnered numerous awards from the education, technology and parenting communities. Now used by millions of students and teachers around the world, the software is considered the gold standard of visual learning tools. "To be successful in the 21st century, it isn’t just enough to learn facts and figures. It is essential that today's students develop strong critical-thinking, writing and organizational skills as well as good communication skills to effectively share their knowledge and understanding," said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. "Inspiration 9 encourages creativity, comprehension and retention, helping students build the critical-thinking and communication skills necessary for success in school, higher education and life." New in Inspiration is the Presentation Manager, which students use to create organized and compelling presentations to present and communicate their knowledge and work. The Presentation Manager automatically creates bulleted slides and graphics from a student’s diagram, mind map or outline. Students use this as the starting point to build their oral presentation and handouts and then add slides, speaker notes, talking points, graphics, video and sound to emphasize their points. Inspiration 9 ships with numerous ready-made professional quality themes to quickly develop a visually appealing presentation, or students can create their own themes to personalize their presentations. Once their presentation is complete, they can play it directly from Inspiration or from any Macintosh® or Windows® computer using the free Inspiration Presenter available on the installation CD and at http://www.inspiration.com. Inspiration also features a new visual view, Map View, which allows students to create and think in mind maps, another proven visual learning methodology that promotes better understanding of relationships and connections among ideas and helps students retain information. Mind maps capture information in a natural, free-flowing style. With Map View, students build visual models, adding ideas branching off a central topic with just one click, and reorganize ideas by simply grafting one branch to another. Graphic images, colors and fonts allow learners to embellish, differentiate and emphasize their ideas. Just like with idea maps, concept maps, graphic organizers and other diagrams created with Inspiration, the process of building a mind map is fluid and visual, complementing the natural way that students think and expand on ideas. As with other diagrams created with Inspiration, mind maps can be instantly transformed into outlines to support the writing process. Teachers from around the country who participated in early testing of Inspiration 9 gave the software rave reviews for extending the use of visual thinking as a key learning strategy for students. "Inspiration 9 is familiar but improved," said Deb Logan, librarian/media specialist at Mount Gilead Middle/High School in Ohio. "It takes information to a higher level, giving students the tools to analyze, synthesize and present their thoughts to others. It also helps linear learners create mind maps and visual learners create order. What a great way to bring different types of learners to shared understanding!" Inspiration 9 also provides: More visual learning support in Diagram View to strengthen understanding, retention and communication:
More capabilities for organizing, outlining and writing in Outline View:
Purchasing and Upgrading to Inspiration 9 Under regular education pricing, single copies of Inspiration 9 are $69; five-computer license packs are $310; 10-computer license packs are $550; and 20-computer license packs are $895. Additional pricing is available for site licenses and larger volume purchases and upgrades. For a free 30-day trial of Inspiration 9, visit http://www.inspiration.com/freetrial. More information about Inspiration is available at http://www.inspiration.com/inspiration or by calling 800-877-4292.
Inspiration and Kidspiration Honored as Outstanding Products of 2009 by iParenting Media AwardsTwo Top Parent Information Sites Recommend Visual Learning Tools From Inspiration Software as Best Software Products for Children PORTLAND, Ore. – Dec. 9, 2009 Inspiration® and Kidspiration® are wrapping up 2009 with their second set of honors from a national parent information Web site, as they have now been named to the iParenting Media Awards’ list of Outstanding Products of 2009. The visual learning tools from Inspiration Software, Inc., the leader in visual thinking and learning, were also recently awarded The National Parenting Center's 2010 Seal of Approval, adding to both products' long list of accolades from the education, technology and parenting communities. Inspiration and Kidspiration were selected for the recognition from iParenting Media from hundreds of products that were submitted for judging in 17 categories. All products submitted for the iParenting Media Awards Outstanding Products of 2009 underwent a thorough evaluation process by a variety of individuals, including experts and families. "The second recognition in as many weeks for Inspiration and Kidspiration from the parenting community supports our belief that students can use visual learning to build critical thinking skills both at school and at home," said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. "It is exciting to see our software listed among the high-quality products for children that the iParenting judges recognized as the best of 2009." Inspiration is the essential tool to visualize, think, organize and learn. Inspiration provides powerful support for critical thinking, comprehension and writing, and learners in grade 6 to adult rely on Inspiration to plan, research and complete projects successfully. Kidspiration 3, the visual learning software for students in kindergarten through grade 5, supports young learners as they strengthen reading and writing skills, build conceptual understanding in math and develop thinking skills across the curriculum. The iParenting Media Award Outstanding Products of 2009 is the 18th award for Kidspiration 3 since its launch in early 2008. About iParenting Media iParenting.com, an online community for parents and parents-to-be, is part of Disney Online's network of family-focused Web sites including Disney Family.com, FamilyFun.com and Wondertime.com. Founded in 1996, the company has grown from a single pregnancy site, www.PregancyToday.com, to an award-winning network of more than 40 sites, in English and Spanish. The iParenting sites address a range of parenting issues from preconception through raising teenagers and beyond. iParenting Media's Editor-in-Chief Elisa Ast All, MSJ, writes a monthly newspaper column and co-hosts a Chicago-based radio show, Points on Parenting. iParenting Media produces the highly respected iParenting Media Awards program, an ISO9001:2000 certified product review and awards program. Consumers can learn more about products winning iParenting Media Awards, and where to purchase the products via a retailer network online directory, by visiting http://www.iParentingMediaAwards.com/consumer.
Inspiration Software Sweeps 14th Annual Educational Software Review AwardsInspiration, Kidspiration and InspireData Honored by ComputED Learning Center PORTLAND, Ore. – Sept. 18, 2009 The EDDIE Awards target innovative and content-rich programs and Web sites that augment the classroom curriculum and improve teacher productivity, providing parents and teachers with the technology to foster educational excellence. Selection criteria include academic content, potential for broad classroom use, technical merit, subject approach and management system. Winners are selected from titles submitted by publishers from around the world. "It is always exciting when educators recognize our visual learning software tools with awards," said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. "However, it is particularly gratifying to see all three products – Inspiration, Kidspiration and InspireData – recognized by this group of leaders in education technology." Kidspiration 3, the visual learning software for students in kindergarten through grade 5, was honored in the "Thinking Skills" category for early elementary students. Kidspiration supports students as they strengthen reading and writing skills, build conceptual understanding in math and develop thinking skills across the curriculum. This is the 14th award for Kidspiration 3 since its launch in early 2008. Inspiration, the essential tool to visualize, think, organize and learn, was recognized in the "Thinking Skills" category for upper elementary students. Learners grade 6 to adult rely on Inspiration to plan, research and complete projects successfully. InspireData, the visual way to explore and understand data, won an EDDIE award in the "Data Exploration" category for upper elementary students. Students grades 4 to 12 use InspireData to investigate, analyze and represent data and information in dynamic graphs and charts.
Inspiration Software Congratulates Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Named "Star Innovator" in 2009 Intel Schools of Distinction AwardsLeader in Visual Thinking and Learning Contributes Software Licenses, Professional Development, Curriculum Materials as Sponsor of Award Program Honoring Schools for Math and Science Excellence PORTLAND, Ore. – Sept. 15, 2009 The Intel Foundation and sponsoring companies, such as Inspiration Software, will distribute more than $1 million in cash, products and services to the winning schools. Inspiration Software's sponsorship of this awards program builds on the company’s more than two-decade-long tradition of honoring innovative educators from around the world. The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, enrolls academically talented Illinois students (grades 10-12) in its advanced, residential college-preparatory program and serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. In addition to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, this year's Intel Schools of Distinction Awards winners for mathematics excellence are Cedar Park Elementary School, Trumann, Ark.; Urban Assembly for Applied Math and Science, Bronx, N.Y.; and Lynn English High School, Lynn, Mass. Schools honored for science excellence are Oakcliff Elementary School, Doraville, Ga.; and Palm Desert Middle School, Palm Desert, Calif. "The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and the five other winners in this year's Intel Schools of Distinction Awards exemplify the innovative ways that educators are using the power of technology to educate our country's next generation of mathematicians and scientists," said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. "Our company sponsors this important award program with Intel to recognize the accomplishments of these schools as well as to promote models for innovative instruction that can be replicated around the country." All six of this year's winning schools, honored today at a gala in Washington, D.C., receive a $10,000 grant from the Intel Foundation and an award package that includes curriculum materials, professional development resources, hardware and software. The elementary schools honored in this year's Intel Schools of Distinction Awards will receive 100 licenses for Kidspiration® 3, Inspiration Software's award-winning visual learning software for young learners, as well as licenses for the company's Kidspiration lesson plan books: "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Reading Essentials," "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Math Made Visual" and "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Writing Essentials." Created for K-5 learners, Kidspiration develops thinking, literacy and numeracy skills using proven visual learning principles. Inspiration Software's award package for Intel Schools of Distinction elementary schools also includes 60 licenses for InspireData®, the visual way to explore and understand data. Learners use InspireData to build critical data analysis skills. To help these exemplary teachers use InspireData with their students, Inspiration Software will provide them with the supporting lesson plans books "Developing Data Literacy with InspireData," "InspireData and Social Studies: Explore, Analyze and Understand," and "InspireData and Science: Question, Analyze and Predict." This year's middle and high school Intel Schools of Distinction Award winners will receive 100 licenses for Inspiration®, the essential tool to visualize, think, organize and learn. With Inspiration, learners in grade 6 to adult develop a deeper understanding of difficult concepts and build stronger critical-thinking skills. Inspiration Software's prize package for secondary schools also includes materials that support using the visual learning software with students, such as "The Thinking Classroom: Using Inspiration to Meet Curriculum Standards." Secondary school winners will also receive 60 licenses for InspireData and schoolwide licenses for its lesson plan books. As the Star Innovator, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy will also receive 20 additional licenses for Inspiration and InspireData. Instructional teams at all six 2009 winning schools will have the opportunity to participate in four hours of online professional development from Inspiration Software to help them integrate the visual learning software into teaching and learning. For more information on the Intel Schools of Distinction Awards and to view the complete list of winners, visit http://www.intel.com/education/schoolsofdistinction. Read the featured eSchool News article.
Inspiration Software Launches New Site License Program to Stretch School Budgets, Ensure Access to Visual Learning Software for All Students and TeachersAchievement Soars, Critical-Thinking Skills Grow When Students Learn With Inspiration and Kidspiration PORTLAND, Ore. – Aug. 17, 2009 – To ensure that all schools can offer their students and teachers access to its award-winning visual thinking and learning software, Inspiration Software®, Inc., today announced the launch of a new Site License Program. With the addition of this new purchasing option, designed to help schools and districts stretch their software budgets, even more students will return to classrooms this fall where the power of visual learning will help them build thinking skills and learn new and difficult concepts. Inspiration Software’s Site License Program for Inspiration® and Kidspiration® was designed for schools and districts that want to provide visual thinking and learning support in every classroom. A convenient, low-cost, single, perpetual license purchase covers all student, teacher and administrator use at a school. Pricing is based on school enrollment at the time of purchase, eliminating the expense and hassle of ordering more licenses when more computers are purchased. In addition, this cost-effective site license includes Teacher Take Home privileges, so they can use the visual learning software at home for lesson planning, grading and training, as well as free online professional development materials. Every day in classrooms around the country, students use Inspiration and Kidspiration to learn in new ways and achieve at higher levels. At a Pennsylvania high school, students are quickly learning complex concepts in science. Math scores on state benchmark tests for fourth-graders at a Virginia elementary school have doubled. And middle school students at a private school in North Carolina have discovered how history shaped their state, their country and the world. "The three schools described above and their visual learning success stories are unique, but their teachers share a clear understanding of the power of visual learning. Their students are building strong thinking skills, quickly grasping new and complex concepts, and achieving at higher levels when visual learning supports instruction," said Mona Westhaver, president, Inspiration Software. "We developed our new Site License Program so that schools like these and hundreds of others around the country can make the most of their investments in Inspiration and Kidspiration with a program that suits their individual needs." At John Tyler Elementary, part of Portsmouth Public Schools near Norfolk, Va., the fourth-grade students who reached brand-new heights in math were learning with the award-winning Kidspiration 3. Created for K-5 learners, Kidspiration develops thinking, literacy and numeracy skills using proven visual learning principles. With the new visual math tools in Kidspiration 3, students build a strong mathematical foundation for reasoning and problem-solving by using visual representations to understand math concepts. When the John Tyler students started the last school year with an average score of just 43 percent on state math benchmark tests, their teacher Jennifer Patgorski was determined to find a way to engage them in learning so they could achieve at the levels she knew were possible. Now with math test scores in the 80s, her students are realizing the greatest level of improvement in their school. Patgorski finds Kidspiration reaches students of every learning ability – from special education to advanced students. Even students with the most severe disabilities – those who require help from paraprofessionals to navigate the school day – are able to use Kidspiration, she said. “I put them on Kidspiration and they are able to fully participate, 100 percent, doing the exact same thing as everyone else. You can imagine how that makes them feel.” Meanwhile, high school students in Cheryl Teaters' biology classroom at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pa., used Inspiration, the essential tool to visualize, think, organize and learn, to grasp difficult concepts, such as the functions of the organelles that make up a cell, by creating "cell analogy projects," comparing the parts of a cell to another structure, such as a school, an automobile or a city. Teaters' students constructed Inspiration "webs" – or visual maps – of a cell and the structure to which they compared it. For each organelle, students found a corresponding function in their analogous structure and created a visual representation of the connection. With Inspiration’s vast library of symbols, graphics and photos, as well as images they imported, students were able to depict virtually anything they could visualize. Young researchers at Cathedral School in Raleigh, N.C., also used Inspiration to explore their school’s history, creating "webs" – or visual maps – to research, organize and evaluate significant events that occurred over the last 100 years. Students scoured online resources for events they found noteworthy. Using Inspiration as a brainstorming tool, the students were able to narrow down the list to the most relevant facts. "They loved searching for facts, and it was interesting to see which events caught their attention," said Kim Seder, the school's director of information and educational technology. "This project gave students an overview of history in an easy way, and Inspiration was the perfect tool." Schools and districts, ranging in size and grade levels just like Cathedral School, John Tyler Elementary and Gateway High School, can now make the most of their budgets by choosing from Inspiration Software's purchasing options to ensure that their students and teachers have access to the company’s visual learning tools. For more information about Inspiration Software's new Site License Program, call 800-877-4292 or visit www.inspiration.com/sitelicenses to find a local education dealer.
Inspiration Software, Inc. recently launched the public beta of Webspiration™, the new online visual thinking tool that helps capture ideas, organize information, diagram processes and create clear, concise written documents individually and collaboratively. With Webspiration, Inspiration Software offers powerful visual thinking tools combined with Web 3.0 capabilities to create a visual thinking and collaboration environment that creative thinkers can user anywhere, anytime. Using Webspiration’s integrated diagram and outline views, users can think visually, structure work effectively and express ideas in ways that best communicate them. Creative thinkers can use Webspiration’s diagramming environment to brainstorm and create bubble diagrams, flow charts, concept maps, process flows and other visual representations that stimulate and reflect their thinking. With Webspiration, users focus on developing and connecting ideas – not drawing. Powerful outlining capabilities in Webspiration allow users to take notes, organize their work and expand ideas fluidly to develop their writing into plans, study guides, papers, reports and other more comprehensive documents. Webspiration’s collaboration capabilities make it ideal for co-authoring materials, working on team projects and participating in study groups by allowing any number of users to add to, review and comment on documents. All Webspiration users need to do is simply send an invitation to a colleague or friend and they can share documents and work collectively contributing ideas, posting comments and viewing changes. Documents created in Webspiration are stored online without discs, drivers or email. That means users can work anywhere inspiration strikes and they have access to the Internet– at home, a friend’s house, the library, the airport or the local coffee shop. Sign up for a Webspiration Beta account and give us your feedback! Sign up today!
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