Having been introduced to concept mapping software, I think it provides a wonderful means for enhancing the classroom experience.
Concept mapping has been defined as process which involves the drawing of pictures to represent relationships among and between concepts and ideas. It caters for visual thinking and visual expression and therefore facilitates a range of pupils who are not usually properly accommodated in the classroom. I feel strongly about this because these are pupils not unlike myself.
I use concept maps in Creative Writing all the time. They help me to break down topics into their component parts, sequence events, link ideas and facilitate the sharing of experiences. I can now see myself using the free software and the projector to do these same tasks, more efficiently of course. Additionally, I would be able to add pictures and make the maps more students friendly. I’m very excited about this because I can make copies for the children instead of wasting time for each child to copy from the whiteboard. They aren’t usually able to fit the entire thing on the page anyway.
I’m just loving the concept mapping software, I hope you are too.
The use of concept mapping is not entirely unfamiliar to me. Since I started teaching, I have used them in the simplest forms for classroom instruction. I have found that students who are low on the literacy scale can participate more in class when I use them.. They are less intimidating than are lines and lines of long complicated looking notes. Struggling readers have a contribution to make and I have found that using concept maps in the classroom allows them to feel that they are adding to the overall class lesson and not simply disappearing into their metaphorical corners.
ReplyDeleteConcept mapping for unit and lesson plans are more involved. Last term, I started a small voluntary project in my school which involved the distribution of basic concept maps which were developed on cultural themes acknowledged or celebrated within the school. The P.E teacher, the Economics teacher as well as the Drama and Music teachers were each given one. Each map was really a suggestion of how the teachers could introduce literacy into their subject area by optimizing the popular events in the school. I was pleasantly surprised on how well they were received by my peers. I think teachers saw that I was interested in the students and also that I did not attempt t0 dictate their work but handed them a sample of a tool that they too could modify for use later on.
This course as you rightly said has shown us how to use concept maps to break down ideas, use links, provide visual representations and enhance instruction overall. With the information I now have, I can now provide a more developed concept map to my peers so that they can enhance their lessons and most of all 'motivate' their students when they are more succinctly organized for the teaching of specific units.
You are absolutely right concept maps can be very useful. I believe that the addition of pictures can add motivation and excitement to the idea of concept maps. I myself find it overwhelming to approach writing and be faced with a blank page. Using the concept map can help students overcome this blank page phobia as it allows them to use a diagram to organize their ideas. The software can also appeal to those techno-savvy students making them eager to create maps using that free software.
ReplyDeleteThis use of concept maps can also be transferred to other subjects other than writing, it can be used as a brainstorming tool while studying and it can be used when organizing projects as with the push towards continuous assessment projects are something that follow students throughout their education. Problem solving is such an important part of education and concept maps can help develop students problem solving skills. I have also read that concept maps can be used to assess how well students see the big picture and to illustrate students' conceptual knowledge. As teachers we can also use it for curriculum planning. The use of the software allows ideas to be rearranged so easily and do not forget that it is environmentally friendly.