Finding Popplet

I was searching various mind-mapping resources online and I came across Popplet. Immediately, the site offers more colour and varioution than bubbl.us. I enjoyed discovering different formats and it was a great tool when wanting to see examples of mind-maps. There were numerous subject areas of mind-maps to view and to use as templates. Educational mind-maps included: 'Facts about the Earth,' 'Coming of the American Revolution,' and this useful example on teaching a lesson: successful lesson plan

Popplet helps students think and learn visually. You can insert images into the mind-map and to me; this meant it was more visually pleasing than the Bubbl.us mind-map that I had created. Popplet helps students capture facts, thoughts and images and correlates a relationship between them. I found this function appealing and easy to use and it made me realize how necessary it is to explore various versions of teaching methods. Just as we try out different practical methods of teaching, so we should keep researching different ICT versions. Through researching, I was able to find a method of mind-mapping that suited me even more. I won't just stick in my safe zone of doing mind-maps on bubbl.us, I will now use Popplet and especially in-class as it is a great tool for the students to use themselves. 

References
http://popplet.com/ [ Accessed 29 November, 2014].

Discovering Bubbl.us

I have to admit, I have always been one of those that use mind-maps during revision. Sorting through notes and simplifying them into mind-map format worked effectively for me. However, that was usually hand-drawn mind maps, which I could stick up onto walls and into files to add instant colour as opposed to all of my written notes. I only went so far as to dipping into my pencil case of felt-tip pens to create my mind-maps, I didn't venture into the world of computer-crafted mind-maps. That was until we looked at a site called Bubbl.us in our PGCE lesson. 

Bubbl.us is a software that is simple and quick and creates information in a neat and clear format. As quoted from Lifehacker.com, 'Don't let resistance to learning new software stop you from doing it. Bubbl.us is speedy, free, and requires less than a minute to learn.' Therefore, I thought I would ditch the felt tips and use a Bubbl.us mind-map in my English class. What I created can be seen below:

I found the software really easy to use, and it was nice to try something new to apply to my lessons. Admittedly, I do enjoy the creative part of drawing my own mind-map and it is an easy way of adding ideas to the mind-map as revision goes along. However, when it came to teaching, the bubbl.us methods looks more professional and it was a good site for me to suggest to students as it is quick, easy and also free. I would like to use computer-crafted mind-maps in the future when teaching. My next aim is to look for a mind-mapping software that offers more variation when formatting. This means more shapes, colour, background setting etc. Discovering bubbl.us was a great way of setting me up on my methodological adventure of finding new ways of resourcing material for teaching. 

References:

https://bubbl.us/ [Accessed 5 November 2014]

Lifehacker.com found at https://bubbl.us/ [Accessed 5 November 2014]