Mind the map

4. Mind maps, on paper and not

Quite a learning curve here. I'm in a group that's completely at ease with the idea of mind-mapping - who isn't?
So it's a bit embarrassing to be the one who has to ask what a mind map is. Time for some catch-up.
Reading around the subject today I've discovered that the original mind map lightbulb moment is claimed by a UK psychologist called Tony Buzan and that it happened more than 40 years ago. Maybe they were around when I was last in education (about three decades ago) and I've just forgotten all about them.
Before coming to any judgement about the usefulness of mind-mapping software I felt I needed to go right back to basics and try it out for myself with paper and pen. As my starting point I used an Open University how-to guide.
And to make the exercise as real as possible I applied the technique to a 'real world' test of a current work project, a commissioned article on the Highland midge. The publisher has asked for breadth rather than depth, so it seemed like a good way to gauge my existing knowledge and identify where I'll need to fill gaps with fresh research.
What I've come up with is scruffy, but it took hardly any time to assemble and the experience has overcome my initial scepticism. Is it better than the simple list I would usually start with? I think it is.
For example, I'd have put 'farming' on a list but when I added to the map it prompted questions about other outdoor workers. That resulted in the addition of forestry workers, who might not have figured in a list.
Would the process have been better if  I'd used an online tool? That's for the next 'experiment'. In the meantime I've looked at a few and found they have strengths and weaknesses.
At the moment these are my frontrunners:

Bubbl.us

Coggle

Popplet

But before I'm ready to unleash them on students I'm going to have to feel more comfortable with the tool - and the concept. As a first step I'm going some of the way by planning in a session with Padlet.
It's not a mind mapping tool, but does share some of the features. It is more like an online pin board that allows students to collaborate - I've had a go at putting a wall together for one of my favourite destinations.
It looks like this:

On the face of it I think it's just the thing for my Leisure & Tourism group to work with on their capital city project. Searching for facts, images and video and then prioritising what should go where should be a useful learning experience.

Source:
Tony Buzan www.tonybuzan.com (Accessed November 10, 2014)
Open University, Information Skills for Researchershttp://www.open.ac.uk/infoskills-researchers/developing-mindmapping.htm (accessed November 10, 2014)

Taking stock

3. Personal working use of software, including Microsoft applications.
 
I think it's worth taking a moment to reflect on where I'm starting from. My use of ICT is pretty basic.
It hasn't always been that way. Once I was something of a pioneer. In the late 1980s the newspaper business went from old-style hot metal printing to a newer way of doing things, and it happened just when I was a newbie reporter.

The technology shift resulted in confrontation (at times violent) between management and the print unions. Journalists, like me, were a side issue. Some resisted change, but I saw the new way of working as inevitable evolution. 
So, as a reporter I was one of first to use computers instead of typewriters and, a little later, as a sub-editor I designed pages on the new-fangled Quark software, rather than a sheet of paper.
More recently though I know I've mostly stuck to my comfort zone and let changes pass me by. My feeling is that as a freelance writer I'm now doing things in largely the same way as I did 10 or 15 years ago, but in doing a little audit for this post it has become apparent that just about every aspect has changed.

Interviewing: I do now record interviews rather than rely on shorthand notes (though notes on paper are still a must for the days when the voice recorder fails). Sound files can be archived on my computer.

Research: All now online, except interviews.

Outputs: I use Microsoft Word to write on and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to track spending and invoices. I don't often need to edit digital images, but when I do I use a fairly basic version of Photoshop.
I have tried a voice recognition package (Dragon), but me and it haven't got on too well. It's there on my desktop, but I rarely bother with it.
This is possibly the subject for a post of its own, but I think my creative brain is so used to the link from keyboarding fingers to words on the page that it can't re-learn the process.

Communication: Email has transformed the business of dealing with interviewees and clients. Also, online communities have changed the way that I can 'talk' to other people in my working world.
Page proofs that used to be sent through the post can now be emailed and correct as Adobe pdf documents.

Marketing: Over the last year or two social media as taken over as the marketing tool. Facebook and Twitter are now part of my daily routine.

That's where I am now. A lot of the above is transferable to teaching, but I know I have plenty more to learn. My first priority should be, I think, to become proficient with Microsoft PowerPoint - as well as mastering Blogger.