Today I spent some time exploring the bubbl.us concept mapping tool. I created my concept map based on topic 1 and just kept it quite simple. I found it relatively easy to use and even when I did make mistakes it was easy to delete or fix. I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom with students and it could be used at the start of a topic, for brainstorming or at the end of a topic aswell to allow students to see the new knowledge they have gained. It was great that you could save your concept map and edit it at a later time which would be good if you ran out of time in the classroom or you decided to add to it. I found the best thing to be how organised it was and how clearly information could be displayed by simply changing colours and moving bubbles around. It would be well suited to older primary students who could easily use the tool on their own. It could also be used effectively in the early years if it was done as a class. Perhaps the use of a smart board would allow sharing with the whole class and the teacher could let young students type in words to help build the concept map while over time providing them with the opportunity to learn how to use the tool.
Hi Kylie,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about using the concept map with the earlier years. I hadn't thought of that. Last year I worked in a year one class and I remember how excited and engaged they were when they knew that could have a turn at using the interactive white board.
I also think that if the students had a turn of adding something to the concept map it would give them a sense of ownership, rather than just having the teacher write on the board.
Justine
Yes, I hadn't really thought about the ownership aspect but I guess it would, especially with young students. I wonder if you could add images to the concept map using this program because I could imagine that would be quite effective with the early years too.
ReplyDeleteHi Kylie,
ReplyDeleteAfter our lecture on visual literacy this week I could definatly see the advantanges of using images. Not just for the younger years but also for those visual learners.