The other great feature is that you can add text, images, links, etc. It can be used locally or in the cloud and allows the printing and exporting of completed maps. This is a Google Chrome extension, with Dropbox, Google Drive, and Cloud built in. The live chat feature makes it even more attractive. You can use it solo or collaborate with other students if you are involved in a group project. This tool is online, so that it can be accessed from anywhere and with any device. Of course, for students, “free” is always better, and there are plenty of mind mapping tools that have free personal accounts.įreebies: The following is a list of the most popular free mind mapping tools that are easy to use, allow collaboration with other students, and have a number of features that make assignments, organization, and planning much more efficient. In fact, there are now a huge number for both educational and business use.

It was only natural that mind mapping tools were be developed, both as independent software programs and as online apps. Plots for narratives can be chronologically organized.

Research Paper Organization of Sub-Topics, along with reference citations for those sub-topics.A character sketch – a mind map can be used to note all of the character traits that will be covered, and, under those, examples from the story or novel that will be used as evidence.If a student is writing a persuasive essay, the mind map will allow combining and prioritizing the arguments that will be used.

Student use of mind mapping in order to prepare for writing is probably the most important use.

Organize and prioritize ideas or sub-topics.

Eliminate those that are duplicates or unimportant/irrelevant.

Combine ideas or sub-topics that are similar.

This makes it easy to then do the following: The biggest benefit of mind mapping is that students are able to see all of their thoughts on a specific topic or idea as a whole.

Organize ideas into categories or steps.

Long before any software tools for this process were available, students learned how to take pencil to paper and create their own mind maps. Mind mapping has been a classroom graphic organizer tool that students have used for years.

Chrome extension mind mapping free