Gliffy looks like a great tool for adding visuals to the online component of any course -- it's an easy way to create mindmaps, charts, etc.

Note: If you've used Visio, the interface is much the same. Just as Jing is TechSmith's web 2.0 share-and-collaborate version of the screen-capture software Camtasia, so Gliffy appears to be the share-and-collaborate version of Visio.

• Mary's Gliffy Demo
• YouTube video demo (Thanks, Burks, for the hot tip!):

There is $0-option, but it allows only 5 objects to be generated; I opted to pay for one year (there was a discount, so it only cost me $20). The paid subscription allows unlimited objects to be created, PLUS (here's the exciting part!) it allows you to "share," so that others can collaborate on your document with you!!!

Two possible uses, off the top of my head:

 (1) This is a sample chart that I might use in a committee discussion of support for faculty who are interested in using technology at our campus. Gliffy provides a URL that you can use to share the document, or they now provide an embed code to include the object in the webpage of your choice. Here's another example, but this one uses the embed code provided by Gliffy:

(2)