When I began to organize the information found in the Chapter 2 I typed it into an outline. This is fairly typical of me because I am a visual person who likes to see the "snapshot" of information. Converting this to a Concept Map just enhanced the effectiveness of the "snapshot." I was able to color code the different levels and spread them out in an arrangement that made them more appealing to me. Of course the frustration with this was creating the actual concept map. I tried using the three software choices that my professor provided (bubble.us, Mind Meister, or DabbleBoard) and very quickly got frustrated with the fact that I had so much information already organized so well and now had to retype it. I kept thinking "there has to be another way." Well, there was. I soon found Text2MindMap. It actually allowed me to use my outline and generate the Concept Map. There was a bit of flexibility to it too. I was able to choose my font size, the colors, and what color the different "levels" of information were. The website did have its issues - it crashed a few times because of the amount of information I was using. I don't think it was meant to incorporate short paragraphs into the map. Once I got it to work it turned out brilliantly.
I can absolutely see using this with my students. I know there are students who organize their thoughts better by seeing them either written out or drawn out in bright colors.
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