9.3 Mind-mapping tools (optional)
This page expands on issues discussed in section 4.
If you have never seen – or used – a mind-mapping tool, you may like to try one out. It can be helpful for note taking, mapping out your understanding of a topic, or planning out the structure of a document or presentation.
Search for the terms ‘mind mapping application’ or ‘mind mapping software’ with your favourite search engine to find a tool, and then familiarise yourself with the sorts of diagram these tools can produce.
To get you started, two tools I particularly like are:
- the Freemind [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] desktop application
- and the online Mindmeister.
Using whichever tool you prefer, see if you can create a simple mind map of the topics covered in Sections 1, 2 and 3 of this course.
Related to mind mapping is concept mapping. The Open University’s KMi research department has led the development of Compendium, which is one such concept-mapping tool.