Module 2: Popplet Mind Map Setup

     While this week’s readings were limited, the videos I watched about mind mapping and Popplet helped me learn about an educational concept I had never used before and a web-based program that can be used to maximize use of that concept. I am interested in how technology can assist in online and collaborative learning, so the instructive videos and the application of what I learned offered me instruction and experiential learning.
     I learned that mind mapping is a way to work independently or collaboratively to plan and organize your ideas and that Popplet is an online program that allows students, teachers, and groups in business, academia, and government to conduct mind mapping and organize content for presentation purposes. An example is provided above. Mind mapping is a way to lay out information and organize it that is effective when an individual or group is brain storming, capturing research results, and/or presenting information. A mind map starts with a central idea and then allows/forces the user(s) to think about how to branch out to subtopics, out of which details and ideas can be added. Popplet allows users to create a mind map online that can be easily manipulated to add subtopics and additional details and can be supplemented with color coding of each box/topic/subtopic and the insertion of pictures and videos.
     Although Popplet has limitations, such as the fact you can only upload videos from Vimeo—and only some Vimeo videos are available through Popplet—it shows the potential to be a powerful educational tool in an online or blended learning environment. Within FCPS, schools are expected to develop curriculum that instills students with what are referred to as Portrait of a Graduate skills, a key one of which is collaborative working and learning. The fact that a mind mapping effort via Popplet can be shared with several individuals means that mind mapping can be a collaborative effort online. There is the potential that each collaborator can be responsible for a single subtopic or can color-code each entry that he/she adds to the mind map. This is important, because one of the challenges of group projects is encouraging all students to contribute equally to the group project, and Popplet can be used to identify who is contributing what. It also allows students, educators, or others to learn from each other as individuals add content to the shared mind map. For an individual using Popplet, the ease of adding and moving content and adding online content allows students to make the brainstorming and information organization process far more effective. In effect, it allows the brainstorming effort to be converted to the actual source for content.
 I can use mind mapping and Popplet to get students to brainstorm much more effectively than I do at present. When I have students conduct pre-writing for essays, I have them use a graphic organizer that is easy for them to replicate when taking the English 8 Writing SOL (Standards of Learning) Assessment in March each year, but creating a mind map in Popplet would allow students to more effectively plan out what they are going to write if they can include full sentences at the subtopic and sub-subtopic level as well as connect sources when appropriate. With a Capstone project that students work on the involves Civics, Science 8, and English 8 and where students work independently or groups of 2 or 3, my students would be able to collaborate more effectively when working in groups and link their research sources as well as graphics and videos to the Popplet. This will allow them to gather content for the presentation they need to create as they are doing online research.