Mind Mapping

1. Challenge

The paradigm of traditional education focuses on what —supposedly— students need to learn.  Little emphasis, if any, is on training students to learn. As a result, students focus on  memorizing information (collecting dots) rather than processing information, thinking critically,  understanding, and learning meaningfully (connecting dots).

The challenge arises from the idea that education today cannot be seen as a summation of  courses in which topics are dealt with in an isolated and linear way. True knowledge stems  from the sometimes intricate connections that exist between various branches of knowledge.  In this sense, excessive Cartesianism makes it diﬃcult for students to have a more global  vision, which allows them to move from analysis to synthesis, an essential issue in 21st century  education.

2. Selection

With this new educational paradigm in mind, in which the role of the teacher no longer consists  only of the mere transmission of knowledge, but rather must aim to teach how to manage  information so that the student gives it meaning and from there build knowledge, the need  arises to incorporate new learning tools that allow the achievement of this objective.

In this sense, the Mind Mapping tool is perfect as it facilitates the search for patterns and  themes. It is intuitive, creative, visual, and engaging. Thus, the tool applied to the situation  described previously, makes it possible to take advantage of the collective intelligence of  teachers and students so that the latter can integrate and understand the connections and  interdependencies that exist between the most important concepts and ideas of all the courses  that shape their Curriculum.

3. Application

The ﬁrst approach was to develop classroom activities that incorporate the use of small-scale  mind maps, for example, a particular topic. The idea was to move towards the collaborative  generation of a mind map of all the course contents. Thus, each student had to present their  own mental map at the end of the semester. Then they worked in teams to achieve ﬁve mind  maps, and ﬁnally arrive at one that included the consensus of all the students in the course.

The continuation of this would be the design of these maps in each of the subjects. In this, the  collaboration of teachers is also expected. Although this has not yet been developed, let's  imagine that we already have all the mind maps, one for each course in the curriculum. Then  we would have to go to the construction phase of the Great Map, which integrates all the  others.

4. Insight

Applying this tool was a fantastic experience. It turned out that few students knew it and they  really liked the way they worked with it. The tool allowed them to express their ideas naturally

and creatively. The tool also allowed for collaborative teamwork and consensus on the most  relevant concepts.

The success of the tool was such that many students continued to apply it as a way to  organize their personal ideas, project ideas, and their own studies. Personally, it was very gratifying to realize that the application of such a simple tool can  achieve results that go beyond the speciﬁc objective. You also gain in creativity, collaboration,  enthusiasm, purpose. It was like seeing the emergence of a new way of doing things in the  classroom.

5. Approach

Next time I will try to go one step further in applying this tool. I am thinking of developing a  digital tool that, in addition to containing the mind maps generated by the students, is a  repository of key information. A digital place that concentrates the main concepts related to its  ﬁeld of study and its interconnections.


Mind Mapping 1 . Challenge The paradigm of traditional education focuses on what — supposedly — students need to learn . Little emphasis , if any , is on training students to learn . As a result , students focus on memorizing information ( collecting dots ) rather than processing information , thinking critically , understanding , and learning meaningfully ( connecting dots ) . The challenge arises from the idea that education today can not be seen as a summation of courses in which topics are dealt with in an isolated and linear way . True knowledge stems from the sometimes intricate connections that exist between various branches of knowledge . In this sense , excessive Cartesianism makes it diﬃcult for students to have a more global vision , which allows them to move from analysis to synthesis , an essential issue in 21st century education . 2 . Selection With this new educational paradigm in mind , in which the role of the teacher no longer consists only of the mere transmission of knowledge , but rather must aim to teach how to manage information so that the student gives it meaning and from there build knowledge , the need arises to incorporate new learning tools that allow the achievement of this objective . In this sense , the Mind Mapping tool is perfect as it facilitates the search for patterns and themes . It is intuitive , creative , visual , and engaging . Thus , the tool applied to the situation described previously , makes it possible to take advantage of the collective intelligence of teachers and students so that the latter can integrate and understand the connections and interdependencies that exist between the most important concepts and ideas of all the courses that shape their Curriculum . 3 . Application The ﬁrst approach was to develop classroom activities that incorporate the use of small - scale mind maps , for example , a particular topic . The idea was to move towards the collaborative generation of a mind map of all the course contents . Thus , each student had to present their own mental map at the end of the semester . Then they worked in teams to achieve ﬁve mind maps , and ﬁnally arrive at one that included the consensus of all the students in the course . The continuation of this would be the design of these maps in each of the subjects . In this , the collaboration of teachers is also expected . Although this has not yet been developed , let 's imagine that we already have all the mind maps , one for each course in the curriculum . Then we would have to go to the construction phase of the Great Map , which integrates all the others . 4 . Insight Applying this tool was a fantastic experience . It turned out that few students knew it and they really liked the way they worked with it . The tool allowed them to express their ideas naturally and creatively . The tool also allowed for collaborative teamwork and consensus on the most relevant concepts . The success of the tool was such that many students continued to apply it as a way to organize their personal ideas , project ideas , and their own studies . Personally , it was very gratifying to realize that the application of such a simple tool can achieve results that go beyond the speciﬁc objective . You also gain in creativity , collaboration , enthusiasm , purpose . It was like seeing the emergence of a new way of doing things in the classroom . 5 . Approach Next time I will try to go one step further in applying this tool . I am thinking of developing a digital tool that , in addition to containing the mind maps generated by the students , is a repository of key information . A digital place that concentrates the main concepts related to its ﬁeld of study and its interconnections .