Why would I want to map my mind?

The next workshop I attended was "Let Me Map That for You (Beginners)" and introduced me to 4 free mind/concept mapping tools that are on the internet. I had fun following the directions and completing diagrams, but I must confess to still being a little confused on how I would use it in class. Oretha had a few suggestions, and I'm sure I will find others (there was one that she claimed was especially good for helping students pre-plan their writing. ??? They do that?) I think I will try to work some of this in at least once this year, then see where it goes from there.

This will not be step-by-step instruction, like the blogging post was. You can sign on, play around, look at the help or tutorial offerings. If you have done any work in layout or design software you will recognize several elements - objects, stencils, drawing and grouping tools. Don't forget the Send Forward or Send Backward functions for layering images and text.

Have fun, and if you come up with a really good lesson, please share!

Cacoo was perhaps the simplest of the 4 to use. Upper elementary, middle school or junior high students would be appropriate users. Cacoo can be used for idea web-type planning or concept mapping, but is also a simple drawing tool (some of their examples show brainstorming layouts for web design, or drawing an office floor plan). It does allow you to add images.

When you sign up for a free account in Cacoo, your email address becomes your user name. You are allowed to save up to 25 pages/diagrams for free. You can publish them only in PNG format (I'm barely learning what this is - mainly publishes to internet?). Paid memberships have more diagrams and sharing options.

Ah, and that is the really cool feature. The diagrams are sharable, and can even be collaboratively worked on in real time. There is a chat feature that will allow the collaborators to communicate while planning/changing a diagram. I want to try this in class (it might be interesting to try it without seating collaborative groups together) and maybe have them try it as homework. Hmmm.

Here is the diagram I created for class. Yeah, I got a little fancy with it. Sorry.

Bubbl.us is more strictly a hierarchical concept map. It allows you to create a main bubble, then "child" bubbles and "sibling" bubbles. Most of this is created by just clicking, then you can move things around to suit. You can change colors and label connections, but you can't add pictures to these, and you can share as view only. The free account is limited to 3 saved sheets, but as Oretha pointed out, if you have students who each have an email account, they can each have 3 free sheets. And once the diagram is completed, you can save and/or publish an image of it, then delete it and start another.

Like this.

When Oretha told us about Mindmeister, she said the most exciting thing I heard all day. She said this software had really made a difference in her students' pre-planning of their writing (and by extension, their completed writing). This is probably the most complex of the mind mapping tools, and wouldn't work well for elementary children.

You can add images from your computer OR from the web (it takes a little longer, but will give images that work their way through school filtering software). And it can do it almost automatically. Kids will love that.

You can save up to 3 mind maps per account, but again you can publish then delete. This site also allows for sharing and collaborating. It is more complex to learn, but the help menus seem to be fairly extensive and easy to use.

According to Oretha, she used this to help students pre-plan writing, and they would go back and revise the plan before revising the writing. Each node allows you to add either a few words or long sentences. She then showed students how you can equate each level of nodes with a level in a formal outline, and they had an "Aha!" moment. Her students are 10th graders, 3 years older than mine, so I'll have to see if this could have a similar impact on my students or if it is just a little too involved for them yet.

Popplet was the newest site she shared, and I can't find if I created a map or not. So I'll let their welcome video speak for itself.



Popplet seems to be very image heavy and reminds me of another new thing that has been hitting my Facebook wall lately - Pinterest (don't ask, I don't have time for a new web addiction). But it looks fun, easy, and it does have a limited free or unlimited paid app on iTunes.

Popplet allows 5 diagrams for free on the website, maybe only one on the app. I will explore and report back.

This brings up the issue of mobile use of any of these tools. I plan to explore that in a future post.

Just a couple of the ideas that Oretha gave for using these sites in a secondary English class were:

* Map conflicts between characters (internal and external)

* Diagram an effect of setting on plot

* Diagram the plot. Could be done with more detail than a standard graphic organizer. In this case, you are having students make their own.

It was pointed out in class that "drag and drop" is a skill in the new Common Core State Standards (technology?). This site, and the others, can certainly allow practice of that skill.

Go play.