Concept maps... I love 'em and I hate 'em. My first exposure to concept maps was an "I hate 'em" experience in another class. We were all struggling with some new concepts, and a fellow student created and posted a concept map (she called it a mind map) to organize and better understand the information. Many students commented on how helpful it was. All I saw was a big, messy jumble. Ugg... Just looking at it made me feel more confused.
Our guest speaker (Dr. Kim) helped me to understand how concept maps can relay ideas and relationships between ideas in a unique, visual way. Dr. Kim shared many concept map examples to show us that if they are done well, concept maps can be very useful.
When I thought of an interesting example to try on my concept map shoes, I was surprised how much fun it was to create! I was loving the process, but I also found it was hard to know where to stop! The more I worked on the map, the more I wanted to add to it. Although it was very simple, I can see how someone might have the same reaction to my concept map that I had when I saw my first one. I think it will be a matter of keeping this tool handy, and knowing when to use it, and knowing when it would just overcomplicate things.
In my own dabbling in concept maps, I went too far! While it was fun to create, and I wanted to include even more information (oiy!), unless I purchased the software (Inspiration) that created it, the ability to properly reproduce and/or view the map was very limited.
Strike that! Without purchasing the software, I found it impossible for me to use my map. I tried all of the options that Inspiration offered (export, save as PDF, etc.). Some did not work, perhaps because it was the trial version? The others just did not produce images clear enough to be enlarged in order to read. I'm clearly very attached to this map, as I would like to somehow salvage it, and/or break it into more manageable chunks.
