Hayley’s Blog

“It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, concept mapping can greatly enrich teacher and student efforts to communicate in our predominantly text-based world.”(Anderson-Inman, Horney, Knox-Quinn, Corrigan & Ditson, 1996). In the article Computer-based study strategies, concept mapping is portrayed as a brilliant source for students and teachers to make their knowledge and understanding of a topic explicit. Computer-based concept mapping is growing in popularity in classrooms as it allows students to correct mistakes and change their minds without wrecking their final work with messy erasing.

By creating a concept map on the computer it encourages students to proof-read their work by correcting errors and making alterations. Concept mapping is a great way to encourage visual expression from students, and helps those students who learn best through visual means. Computer-based concept mapping provides students with an environment for visual thinking that has “great potential for enhancing reading, writing and studying.” (Anderson-Inman, Horney, Knox-Quinn, Corrigan & Ditson, 1996).

Image Source: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lsi/images/kids%20working%20with%20Betty.jpg