Teaching With Tinderbox

September 28, 2009
Stacey Mason

An interesting discussion has arisen on the Tinderbox forums on using Tinderbox as a tool for teaching.

One user lamented that the map view does not represent hierarchy as well as the outline view, but the outline view does not allow for the level of visualization (or aesthetically pleasing visuals for class presentation) that the map view allows.

The trick here is that both views are used for different tasks, so you don’t always need both. When both seem like a good idea, you can use adornments and separators to create a workable pseudo-hierarchy that won’t interfere with the other view. Some people unaccustomed to working with such a dynamic tool try to anticipate all the structure they are going to need ahead of time. The key is to only use what you need; those adornments and separators can always become containers later if you really need them.

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