ETEC 522 – May 2012

Mind Maps

Thank you to everyone in the Visual Intensive Learning group for a thorough overview of concept mapping!

I first encountered mind mapping in my teacher training seminar several years ago and could not really understand the advantage, since the idea seemed a bit unruly for me. Having used them more recently, though, I’m appreciating them as a teaching and learning tool.  In the past few weeks alone, I’ve used concept mapping to create a diagram to explain the roles of leaders in an organization, serve as a memory aid for my mom to keep track of my cousins’ spouses and kids, and help clarify certain concepts for an assignment I was writing.  It was much simpler and more pleasant than reading several paragraphs or long lists!

One of the major weaknesses of a concept or mind map, though, is that what makes sense to the map creator might not make sense to the reader, because the ideas have been pared down to the bare bones (keywords).  Working on a map collaboratively, or having some time to explain it in another medium might make assessment easier for both the learners and teacher.

Chrome has an extension called MindMapr that I installed last week but haven’t had a chance to try yet. It looks simple and clean, though, and saves online.  VUE is my personal favourite concept mapping tool, since it allows alignments that make maps easier to read.