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What is mind mapping? How can we make it a collaborative effort? How can it help us?
  
 * Mind Mapping is a means of organizing information visually. (Holland, B., Holland, L., and Davies, J., 2004) A Mind Map is an outline in which the major categories radiate from a central image and lesser categories are portrayed as branches of larger branches (Budd, 2004).”Using technology to create Mind Maps is a more effective way to create a Mind Map than using pen or pencil and paper. Preceded by outlines and diagrams, “Mind Mapping is one of several similar techniques developed by learning researchers in the 1960s (Murly, 2007).” Similar to a traditional outline, Mind Maps organize information using hierarchies and categories. (Budd, 2004) Mind Maps can be created by one person working alone, or by a group of people working together to plan, organize and share ideas using a visual, free flowing, organized and understandable method.
 * Also known as Graphic Organizers or Concept Maps, Mind Maps are a great way to brainstorm. Ideas and images can be captured immediately and saved for arranging into groups, priorities or hierarchies at a later time. (Murly, 2007) There is no need for a large amount of written information with a Mind Map. Using textual descriptors and graphical cues, Mind Maps make the idea of planning work more appealing to students. (Holland, B., Holland, L., and Davies, J., 2004) Students are engaged in active learning as they create their own Mind Maps instead of viewing one created by their teacher. (Budd, 2004) Teachers, acting as the students’ guides, can help them with the construction of Mind Maps, thus creating a collaborative student-teacher relationship rather than the classroom being a group of students in a captive audience listening to the “sage on the stage” or viewing what she or he has created. (Budd, 2004) Group creation of Mind Maps fosters student-student relationships as well as collaboration and cooperation is essential for completing the task.
 * Mind mapping can aid creativity, organization, productivity, and memory. This activity can help students capture ideas, learn to organize, prioritize, and visualize complex information, work with both the big picture and the details at the same time, and quickly see potential connections or the need for additional information while creating their Mind Maps. (Murly, 2007) “The Mind Map exercise also supports classroom teaching that is responsive to diverse learning styles. Substantial research exists on individual differences in learning styles across four dimensions—personality, information processing, social interaction, and instructional methods (Claxton and Murrell 1987), which implies the need to use diverse teaching methods to reach learners with different strengths (Budd, 2004).” Using software to create Mind Maps allows the user to change his/her map easily and quickly, reorganizing it as needed or to change to different electronic formats (e.g. from outline to graphic). They can then be stored, emailed, manipulated, used, printed or deleted just like any other document. Mind Maps can be re-used, completed by one person or others by using digital storage, which is especially important for these capabilities. A Mind Map in digital format can easily be sent as an attachment with an e-mail message, or included web page. (Bruillard, E., and Baron, G., 2000)
 * Using a computer to create Mind Maps helps students build a more coherent view of the topic they are studying since the environment of computers is essentially one of a fluidity that seems to invite students to participate in manipulation activities. (Bruillard, E., and Baron, G., 2000) This type of visual learning can help students be more involved in the learning process while also alleviating the cognitive overload that can be associated with making revisions with other types of documents. (Bruillard, E., and Baron, G., 2000) “The theory underlying graphic organizers is that the visual and verbal organizational structure of a graphic diagram consolidates information into a meaningful whole so that students do not have the impression that they are being taught a series of unrelated facts or concepts (Cyrs, 1997).”
 * There are many different software programs available for creating Mind Maps. Some websites offer free downloads of their mind mapping programs for students and teachers, while others offer free trials of the software so that it can be examined and tried out before purchase. Most mind mapping programs are for creating Mind Maps by one person only. Although there may be other websites that offer collaborative mind mapping programs, there were only four websites that I discovered offering versions mind mapping programs that can be used in a collaborative manner and shared among group users. Allow me introduce you to Flowchart, Kerika, Mindmeister and Mindjet.