Lucidchart: a free collaboration tool for teachers
January 11, 2013
Commentary by Stephen Downes

I've been using draw.io to make flowcharts for gRSShopper - it's pretty basic, and doesn't share the way I'd like it to, but it's free. Draw.io was set up to demonstrate the mxGraph Javascript diagramming library and works quite well as a drawing tool. You can find it on GitHub. Here's more on the plug-in. Here's where I tried to share a drawing using Google Drive (also pictured above). I used to use Gliffy, but recently the service became too expensive, charging me after only five diagrams. The post I link to here is blatant marketing a guest post on Lee Kolbert's blog describing  Lucidchart, another web-based drawing program it says is "completely free for educators and students." For individual users, though, it's quite expensive and from my non-expert's eye appears to be just the same as draw.io. (p.s. I have been flooded with requests asking me to post guest posts, links and infographs - they're all marketing and I won't run them (and other bloggers shouldn't either)).

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Comments

Re: Lucidchart: a free collaboration tool for teachers

lucidchart, January 11, 2013

Draw.io isn't mind mapping software and Lucidchart does have those sharing options that you were talking about.

Does draw.io have aVenn diagram program?

You can't beat free for educators. ;) [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: Lucidchart: a free collaboration tool for teachers

lucidchart, January 11, 2013

Here is the link to the mind mapping software section

https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/examples/mind_mapping_software

[Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: Lucidchart: a free collaboration tool for teachers

Frank Lowney, January 13, 2013

There is an important issue undergirding this kind of conversation and that is the question of when using "free" software and services becomes a loosing proposition. Of course there is the freemium marketing legerdemain but there is also the matter of motivating the creation and maintenance of great software. Over the years I've seen educators led down many a primrose path that turned into a dead end, all for the sake of being able to claim a large user base. Those educators invested and contributed much but received little. In the end, those educators have to either do without or start all over again
Starting with the assumption that the only viable tools for educators have to be free breeds all sorts of pernicious corollaries. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]



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