Engaging Students With Concept Mapping Activities

1. This kind of Concept Mapping software is something that can have many innovative uses within the classroom. The most helpful way that this software could be used would be to show visual learners how abstract processes are taking place in a more concrete way. Like in the image below, the process of diagramming and dissecting the symbolism of a poem, a very abstract process that is usually internally done, can be displayed in a visual way to help visual learners understand the topic. Another way this technology could be used would be for planning projects. Students would be able to create mind maps almost through this technology that can visually organize their ideas and help them formulate how they are going to approach specific projects. Also, this technology could be used to show students the relationships between characters and events within a novel. This too takes a very abstract concept and makes it very concrete. Mostly, this technology can be used to translate ideas, and help learners who need to see the whole picture. It helps learners who compute better visually.
2. Concept Mapping is something that could be very helpful in a classroom, especially for students who are visual learners. Specifically, in the area of poetry analysis, such as in the picture below, poems can be dissected line by line for their symbolic and literary meaning with the help of a concept map. By doing this, students are able to see how the poem breaks down line by line, and are able to see connections between different portions of the poem because everything is laid out for the students. Another way it could be used would be to diagram projects or essays. Students, rather than making outlines to organize their writing or ideas, can lay out their ideas visually, and even move them around to where they feel they make the most sense.
3. I don’t think it would take me very long to learn this kind of technology – I tend to pick things like this up fairly quickly. However, I’m not sure that I would go to the trouble of integrating this kind of software into my classroom. The idea I think could be useful, but could just as easily be done on Word. The only difference would be the converting of the image to an outline instantly, which wouldn’t be possible on Word, but I think that if your main goal is the visual, the outline wouldn’t be needed as much. The software is cool, but I think it might also be superfluous.