Reflection on online mindmapping
Thank you group 9 for helping me think more deeply about the impact of visuals and the role of mind mapping in the learning process. Giving us the opportunity to experience collaboration in an online mind map was a great idea! I’ve used mind mapping in my Humanities courses to help student develop their ideas and make outlines of key ideas for projects, and have found that although sometimes it extends the process as students engage in the aesthetics of their mind maps, the layout also inspires thought and leaves room for thoughts to arrive ‘out of order’ without causing confusion. Mind maps also seem to inspire creativity because we are able to look for connections where we did not see them before. I have never tried collaborative mind maps, but this is a great way for students to develop collaboration and extend their ideas! I can also see it as a tool for teams of teachers working on a project to help gather and organize ideas. The only downfall I found with Cacoo was that I experienced significant lag time, which could lead to frustration and disengagement. Overall I’m excited about using online mind maps to increase collaboration, develop creativity, and extend thinking.
Posted in: Week 09: Visual-Intensive Learning
janetb 10:25 am on July 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Chelsea,
You commented that mind maps leave “… room for thougths to arrive ‘out of order'”. I have had students in the past who think incredibly randomly and mind maps have been very valuable to them. They jot their thoughts down as they come and then find the links after – or identify the thoughts that didn’t belong – without having to worry about sequence. Because I teach math and “sequence” is seen as very important, concept maps have freed these students to find the sequence their own way.
For other students who really need to see the big picture, mind maps have provided that opportunity and they were able to rise above the details and algorithms that math is famous for and see the meaning behind it all. Once they saw the connections, they could engage in the details because they weren’t isolated and meaningless anymore.
Other students who really struggle with the big picture find the details and sequencing helpful as it gives them a place to start and a path to follow. I think mind maps can help them, too, because seeing the big picture is important, but I do wonder if mind maps are more important to some learning styles than others.
Janet
ping 1:23 am on July 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Janet,
I really enjoyed your description of your students using mind maps to see “the big picuture” and “the sequence”. They are such helpful tools. You must have deep understanding for mind mapping, as you can see the values it may help different learners. I’m really curious about how you teach math with mind maps, how to visualize the abstract concepts & connections behind numbers.
Thanks for sharing these. You really extend my understanding of mind maps.
Ping
ping 1:00 am on July 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Chelsea,
Our group also experienced the frustruation when making our presentation in Cacoo. Sometimes we conflicted in editing, sometimes we lost edited information. Thinking this is the best FREE tool we can find with online collaboration function, we can see the space for new ventures to bring us better mind mapping tools to meet the increasing demand.
Ping