Mind mapping is a strategy that helps students visualize and analyze difficult concepts. Starting with a prompt or topic, students identify supporting themes or subtopics and illustrate connections using branches, color, and illustrations (or other media). Mind maps are great for organizing thoughts and ideas related to subject matter but can also be used to help analyze and critique material, encouraging deeper thinking and understanding of difficult concepts. Listed below are some activities where mind mapping can be effective:
- Reflection
- Brainstorming
- Project organization or outlining
- Silent discussion
- Argument planning
- Note taking/studying
Mind mapping is proven to help increase engagement, creativity, and collaboration amongst students (Rosba et al., 2021). Additionally, research supports that mind mapping can help students to understand long-term lessons, increase participation, and enhance peer communication, if working collaboratively (Lubov Vorona-Slivinskaya & Olga, 2020).
There are a few free online mind mapping tools that can be used to facilitate independent or collaborative mind mapping. Listed below are two suggested mind mapping tools. Both are web-based platforms and are mobile-friendly. View the chart below for a more thorough comparison of tools.
| Padlet (licensed) |
Miro (educator account) Create an Educator Account |
|
| Users per board | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Board limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Templates | No* | Yes |
| Media | Upload files, embed videos/photos from the web, record screen/voice/video directly from Padlet, add hyperlinks | Upload files, embed videos from the web, add hyperlinks |
| Embeddable | Yes | Yes |
| Accessibility** | Yes | Limited |
| Collaboration | Yes
View/comment/react to collaborator with permission, can edit/delete collaborator posts |
Yes
Chat/react/view collaborator cursors, edit/delete collaborator posts, polling, screen record |
| Ideal for… | Silent or online discussions, project outlining, Media sharing | -Independent or group mind mapping sessions -Presenting – InSpace breakout sessions**While Padlet does offer a handful of templates, only the “Canvas” template can be used for Mind Mapping because it is the only template that includes the branching tool to connect posts. |
*While Padlet does offer a handful of templates, only the “Canvas” template can be used for Mind Mapping because it is the only template that includes the branching tool to connect posts.
**Accessibility statements are generalized in this table. These tools report WCAG 2.1 compliance in some capacity, but please review each tool’s accessibility capabilities for features such as alternative text, screen reader functionality, color blindness, etc.
Lubov Vorona-Slivinskaya, Dmitry Bokov, & Olga Li. (2020). Visualization of Learning and Memorizing Processes Using Mobile Devices: Mind Mapping and Charting. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 14(21), 136–152. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v14i21.18475
Rosba, E., Zubaidah, S., Mahanal, S., & Sulisetijono, S. (2021). Digital Mind Map Assisted Group Investigation Learning for College Students’ Creativity. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), 15(05), pp. 4–23. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v15i05.18703