Both concept mapping and mind mapping are techniques for representing knowledge as key ideas either using ‘nodes’ (terminology used in concept mapping) or ‘branches’ (terminology used in mind mapping) on a map. Links are then created among/between key ideas to represent relationships of the nodes to the main idea and to each other.
- Concept maps are organized in a hierarchical manner with the primary idea at the top
- Mind maps tend to be multimodal (including text, images, etc) and generally start with a main idea at the center of the map that branch out to individual ideas connected to the main idea.
Cacoo
Cacoo allows users to easily create online diagrams like mindmaps and share them with your team for real time collaboration.
Mindmeister
MindMeister helps facilitate the creation of mindmaps as an individual or collaboratively via an online and mobile platform.
- Basic (free) version allows users to create 3 mindmaps.
- Visit Website
Device Agnostic
Mindomo
Mindomo helps facilitate the creation of mindmaps as an individual or collaboratively via an online and mobile platform.
- Free version includes 1 Project and 3 maps.
- Visit Website
- Mindomo Instructions
Device Agnostic
VUE*
“The Visual Understanding Environment (VUE) is an Open Source project based at Tufts University. The VUE project is focused on creating flexible tools for managing and integrating digital resources in support of teaching, learning and research.” VUE provides a flexible environment for structuring, presenting, and sharing information.
References
The following are just a few resources addressing the use of mind maps in teaching and learning.
- Mapping as a learning strategy in health professionals education: a critical analysis
- Prevalence of mind mapping as a teaching and learning strategy in physical therapy curricula
- Does the mind map learning strategy facilitate information retrieval and critical thinking in medical students?
- Using mind maps as a teaching and learning tool to promote student engagement
- Radiant Thinking and the Use of the Mind Map in Nurse Practitioner Education
*Tools that appear with an asterisk on the pages are commonly used at the Geisel School of Medicine.