Concept maps are an effective strategy for helping students understand new concepts by providing a visual representation of the connections between them (Brady, 2006). Additionally, McInerney and McInerney (2006) suggest that concept maps are an effective learning strategy because they allow learners to make the links between new and prior knowledge. I used http://bubbl.us/ to create the following concept map, which displays some of the key concepts regarding e-learning and connectivism.
Benefits of using http://bubbl.us
I thought this tool was fairly simple to use, however, an educator would need to scaffold this process for their learners by explicitly modeling how to use the controls.
The colour coded feature of these concept maps makes it easier to read and identify the different concepts.
Learner's concept maps could be saved and uploaded to a class blog or printed out and kept in their workbook for future reference.
Being able to write the text directly into the boxes and having access to all of the buttons in each box made http://bubbl.us/ much easier to use than http://www.text2mindmap.com/.
Challenges associated with using http://bubbl.us
During learning experiences, in the past, my learners have worked with a partner to co-construct a concept map on butcher's paper. According to Education Queensland (2002), this is an effective pedagogical practice because it promotes intellectual quality in the area of substantive conversation and metalanguage. Although the layout and colour coding of the concept maps, produced through http://bubbl.us/, are effective, the website does not provide a meaningful context for collaboration among peers.
Kyle great work already. I am going to try bubbl and then comment.
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion about these two tools. I do prefer the text2mindmap instead of bubbl.us. The text2mindmap I feel would be more simple for lower primary levels. Less instructions and quick to model. You could use it as a simple concept map using the students names/ print it out and then display in class.Students will i feel have the ability to see their work immediately.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
I agree with you, Bernice. I think that these concept maps could be used as an effective whole class teaching tool. Each learner can add their own ideas to the map during the reflection phase of a lesson. Education Queensland (2002) suggests that, if used in this way, concept maps could promote substantive conversation in the classroom.
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