Mind Mapping For Note Taking

Posted by Kenneth Ronkowitz on

Mind mapping is a kind of graphic note taking system that teachers sometimes use with students as an prewriting activity. Since more people are using software to do mapping, it's easier to images, color and hyperlinks along with words & numbers. 

George Kurtz ("Butch Dae") uses mind maps to manage information collected from virtual worlds - check out his article on "3D Mind Mapping of Virtual Worlds"
I'm big on graphic organizers for my own purposes, and I do encourage their use by teachers and students, but I know they don't work for everyone.My biggest gripe with mapping is that so many examples are overly complicated and perhaps only the creator can see any logic in them.

One thing that software allows you to do easier is play around with the way you organize your map so that the connections are perhaps radiant or hierarchical.

The term "Mind Map" is a creation of psychologist Tony Buzan, and he has his own software called iMindMap that you can try out.

Are mind maps the same as concept maps? No, and it's more than a matter of semantics. Mind maps are based on radial hierarchies and tree structures, but concept maps work by drawing connections between concepts. It's actually a good critical thinking exercise just to have students use both side-by-side and see what each requires of the users.

Mind Mapping is supposed to mirror the way our brain operates, but that doesn't mean that it comes "naturally" to people. Again, this is where software helps. Here are three that you might want to try out along with Buzan's iMindMap.

FreeMind is an open source mind mapping software from Softonic. Your finished maps can be exported to HTML, clickable XHTML, Open Office document, image file and other formats.

VUE is a free, open source concept mapping application written in Java and developed by the Academic Technology group at Tufts University. VUE = Visual Understanding Environment (licensed under the Educational Community License)

Edraw Mind Map is software that includes thousands of ready-made graphics that you simply stamp to create your drawing. It's vector-based freeware with lots of examples and templates for flow charts, mind maps, brainstorming diagrams and sketch maps.

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