Saturday, September 29, 2012

Mind Mapping with Margaret

I don't know if you know, how could you, really, that I have an interest in mind mapping and other types of visual organization tools. I contend that these tools, especially mind mapping, are effective ways not only to organize information, but also to learn more deeply and find connections between things. I spent a sabbatical studying mind maps and experimenting with other kinds of tools, and I wrote about my experience on my other blog, Margaret MindMapping. I only post there when I have a new idea or breaking mind mapping news.


A mind map of my mind map project


I posted on that other blog this morning, on the concept of confidence, and how we can become confident about knowledge. Of course I advocate the use of mind maps, and I use them all the time, but I acknowledge the skeptics. I also acknowledge that skeptics sometimes see the mind-map light. This is what I call mind map breaking news.


This scanned artifact shows my notes for a presentation I did in 2010. My presentations (usually) don't seem scripted because they aren't: I'm usually speaking from a mind map. Sometimes, I'm speaking about mind maps.
So take a look at my other colorful mind maps over on the other blog on this dreary, grayish day, and see if maybe this non-linear way of organizing can help you gain more confidence with information. It's just a thought--I won't bombard you with posts or try to convince you. Just take a look.


An early electronic mind map using OpenMind software. One of my favorite examples, this illustrated mind map helped me come up with an effective form for an award-winning essay. Just sayin'.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It surely is a big help in organizing all the different aspects of a certain concept. Also, it allows you to be detailed enough without making things look complicated with the organization of ideas. In addition, it would also help to use a variety of fonts or to put some of the terms in bold to highlight and separate the ideas according to their hierarchy.

Alexandra Gale

Margaret said...

Hi Alexandra, I don't know how I missed your comment back in October. Better late than never, I will reply now. First, thanks for commenting. Second, yes, mind maps show all the facets of a concept which are not so easy to display linearly. The trick is to use the fonts, colors, pictures that your eyes and mind will recognize and even link automatically to the content. I'm more receptive to colors than my own primitive drawings, so I use lots of colors in mine. I've trained myself to recognize hierarchies by proximity to the center of the mind map. It works for me!