Edistorm 
Edistorm takes away the idea of sticky notes on a wall and makes it virtual. Brainstorm, think out ideas alone or with friends; plan out anything you like with Edistorm. Use virtual sticky notes in Edistorm to come up with a multitude of ideas all on one site. There is also an APP available for smart phones.
View an introductory video:
http://www.edistorm.com/users/welcome
On the surface,
Edistorm reminds me of
Wallwisher.
Edistorm has some additional features and abilities that make it very useful in the classroom. Just like
Wallwisher, you brainstorm and collaborate using virtual sticky notes.
Edistorm gives you a place to organize ideas in a real-time interactive wall. Virtual sticky notes can each have their own color and can be organized in vertical or horizontal groupings.
Edistorms can be created independently or with others in a collaborative effort.
Edistorm features an idea bot that works at the bottom of the screen offering suggested ideas based on what students add to the sticky notes in the work space. There are a variety of bots including a rhyming bot, thesaurus, and related words. Creating public and solo storms is always free. Creating private storms requires a subscription.
Edistorm in the classroom: Edistorm offers an opportunity for students to brainstorm, collaborate, and group ideas. Students can use
Edistorm to brainstorm ideas for
writing, research, for grouping ideas, and
collaborating on group projects. Create an
Edistorm for your students and ask them to group like ideas, sort, and expand on thoughts. This could be done for any
historical event, literature, science concept, and even phonics. Students could
practice spelling by typing out their spelling words along with a sentence or synonyms on sticky notes. Then, they can group words by spelling pattern or common phoneme blends. Create an
Edistorm of sticky notes with English words and sticky notes with a foreign language word on them. Students can work together to group words with their meanings. In
math, create
Edistorms with word problems on one color of sticky note and answers on another set of sticky notes. Students can work to create groups of problems and their solutions.
Edistorm can be used for
whole class activities using an interactive whiteboard, the class can brainstorm together and collect ideas or use the grouping feature in an activity created by the teacher or students.
Tip: Edistorm requires an email address for sign up.
Bubbl.us is a mind-mapping product aimed towards anyone who needs help organizing their thoughts or any untidy information. Powered by Flash, Bubbl.us makes it easy for anyone to quickly start planning and sorting out their ideas through the use of linked text bubbles. Each bubble of information is connected to its preceding parent bubble and color coordinated accordingly for hierarchy sake. Using the mouse wheel or the side tool bar allows for easy zooming in and out of your mind-maps. Also added to the tool bar is workspace positioning and setup styles, however most will find that holding the left mouse button and dragging is a much more convenient way of moving around the work area.
