Mind Mapping    A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. A  mind map is hierarchical and shows relationships among pieces  of the whole.] It is often created around a single concept, drawn  as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated  representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of  words are added. Major ideas are connected directly to the  central concept, and other ideas branch out from those major  ideas.

Mind maps can also be drawn by hand, either as "notes" during a  lecture, meeting or planning session, for example, or as higher  quality pictures when more time is available. Mind maps are  considered to be a type of spider diagram. A similar concept in  the 1970s was "idea sun bursting".

Application:

Mind-mapping software can be used to organize large amounts of  information, combining spatial organization, dynamic hierarchical  structuring and node folding. Software packages can extend the  concept of mind-mapping by allowing individuals to map more  than thoughts and ideas with information on their computers and  the Internet, like spreadsheets, documents, Internet sites and  images.[16] It has been suggested that mind-mapping can improve  learning/study efficiency up to 15% over conventional note-taking.

MIND MAPPING CHART

Mind mapping has many applications in personal, family,  educational, and business situations, including note  taking,   brainstorming  (wherein  ideas  are  inserted  into  the  map   radially  around  the  centre  node, without the implicit  prioritization that comes from hierarchical or sequential  arrangements, and wherein grouping and organizing is reserved  for later stages).

Approach:

summarizing, as a mnemonic technique, or to sort out a  complicated idea. Mind maps are also promoted as a way of  collaborating in colour pen creativity sessions. Mind maps can  be employed for problem solving, framework design, individual  expression of creativity.

Insight:

Mindtools are computer applications that necessarily engage learners  in thinking about the content they are studying when they are used to  represent what the learners know (Jonassen, 1996). In past decades,  graphical Mindtools have been widely employed in educational  settings. Most graphical Mindtools, such as  Inspiration,  are   commercial  products.  In  this  study,  the  mind  mapping  tool  that   was  adopted  for conducting  the  creative  learning  tasks  was   selected  for  several  reasons.  First,  it  is  shareware,  which  is  important  for  schools  and  students  who  cannot  afford  to  purchase   commercial  products.  Second,  it provides user interfaces in several  languages, including Chinese. Third, it provides a facility to rearrange  the layout of the nodes and corresponding links created by the  learners, which is very helpful to students in  presenting  their  ideas   during  the  creative  and  innovative  thinking  process  since  they  do   not  need  to worry about the appearance of the mind maps. In  addition, these mind mapping tools have been adopted by researchers  for making business plans of enterprises via the brainstorming process  (Lanchwathanakorn, 2011;  Liu,  Lin,  Jian,  &  Liou,  2012).

