Brainstorming, Idea-mapping, and Organizing Information in the New Millennium
Updated: June 3, 2004
What's in this Lesson:
Lesson Overview
Teacher Technology Tutorials
Teacher Guide (including How to Begin)
Resources
Lesson Overview
Grade Level: Elementary, Middle School, and High School
Curriculum Connections: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science
Standards Connections: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards
| • | National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS): | • | I.A: Teachers demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology. | | • | II.A: Teachers design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners. | | • | III.A: Teachers facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards. |
|
| • | National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS): | • | Grades 3-5 NETS Performance Indicator 9: Students determine when technology is useful and they select the appropriate tools and technology resources to address a variety of tasks and problems. | | • | Grades 6-8 NETS Performance Indicator 8: Students select and use appropriate tools and technology resources to complete a variety of tasks and solve problems. | | • | Grades 9-12 Performance Indicator 8: Students select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem-solving, and decision-making.. |
|
Required Software: Microsoft Visio 2002
Teacher Technology Tutorials
Teacher Guide
Summary:
Overarching Question: How can a digital tool assist in the capture and organization of ideas and thoughts?
Brainstorming and idea-mapping are established process and organizational practices both common in education and business.
Powerful tools such as Microsoft Visio® enable teams to capture ideas and organize and present them more clearly and efficiently than was the case traditionally.
In this project, teams will use Visio 2002 to create and format a mind map.
Objectives:
| • | Knowledge | • | Students will gain knowledge about the creative process of brainstorming and mind-mapping. | | • | Students will gain appreciation for a diversity of ideas, experiences, and questions that help shape creative learning activities. |
|
| • | Skills | • | Students will develop skills using drawing tools and formatting drawing objects. | | • | Students will develop skills manipulating and organizing information into an interconnected whole. |
|
Prerequisite Skills:
| • | Familiarity with word processing |
| • | Knowledge of basic drawing tools |
| • | Comfort with saving files to a shared folder on a computer or network |
Time Allotted:
| • | Preparing the project (1-2 class periods) |
| • | Creating the project (1 class period) |
| • | Finalizing the project (1 class period) |
| • | Presenting and reflecting (1-2 class periods) |
How to Begin:
1. | Preparing the Project (1-2 class periods) | • | Decide on the concept or historical or cultural period that aligns with your curriculum. | | • | Decide on the assessment of the project and create a rubric. | | • | Demonstrate a sample mind map in Visio and explain how the tools were used to create it. Often, when a student begins or ends a unit of study, they can present their process as a class project.. |
|
2. | Creating the Project (1 class period) | • | Teams draft their mind map in an effort to capture all of their ideas. Teachers should withhold judgment about how much value these ideas might add to the end project.. | | • | Students begin to edit and organize mind mapping elements as time allows. |
|
3. | Finalizing the Project (1 class period) | • | Teams complete their mind map's organization (topics and subtopics). | | • | Teams add functionality to their mind map using connectors, lines, or links that help organize and arrange the relationships with the main topic. | | • | Upon the final review by the team and the teacher, projects are prepared for presentation to the class. | | • | Teams present their mind map to the class. |
|
4. | Assessments | • | Checking for Understanding-Ask Your Students | • | Did you notice a logical progression in the way you asked questions? | | • | How did it help you to see the information mapped? | | • | How did you come up with your answer? Was your answer the only logical option remaining? Or, did you suddenly feel like you could guess the answer? |
| | • | Project Rubrics
Project rubrics are an essential evaluation tool. Ideally, rubrics are available to students at the start of a project and they are used to evaluate projects created by teachers. They are also used to evaluate other projects so that students can have a context for what is expected of them. Rubrics should be discussed frequently throughout the project and used as an on-going evaluation tool for self, peer, and teacher assessments. A good source for rubrics is Rubistar. Visit the Rubistar Web site at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php. | | • | Student Reflection
Student reflection is a vital element in any assessment. Make sure that time is allocated at the end of the project to reflect on processes and products. Some questions you can ask are: | • | What is the purpose of the mind mapping or brainstorming process? | | • | How were you able to learn from others and get everyone to agree on the final answers? | | • | Do you think that a team-created project is usually of higher quality than one created by an individual? | | • | What did you learn? What did you do well? What would you change? Next time, you might like to do what differently? |
|
|
Teacher Tips
| • | Create your Visio project and then share it with the class using an LCD or other projector device . Collect ideas and input and organize ideas as you present. Note It is also helpful to display student projects from prior years if they are available. |
| • | Align your project to your curriculum and state standards, and then create an assessment rubric for your project. (Visit the Rubistar Web site at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php for more information.) |
| • | A few days before the project, talk your subject over with your students and assist them in developing questions to help generate ideas and thinking. |
| • | Be sure to plan for differentiation or modification as needed for your diverse group of learners. |
| • | Consider saving projects as Web pages, and then upload them to your classroom Web site to share with parents and the rest of the academic community. |
Grade Level Ideas
For Elementary Students
| • | Using Native American tribes, create a mind map to generate cultural traits, dwellings, life patterns, and rituals that were part of the tribe's identity. |
| • | As part of a team, select and research a species. Each day your team will release clues about its species' diets, habitats, natural enemies, and other details. The teacher will help the class collect responses into a final mind map. (Hint: You can use digital photos, maps, and sounds.) Try to uncover the identity of each team's species. |
For Middle School Students
| • | Create a mind map to capture the important things and relationships needed to balance an ecosystem. |
| • | In teams, create a mind map that covers a character from a novel, short story, or historical era. Capture the important events, people, and decisions that shaped this character. Try to select the topic that had the most influence on this character's life. |
For High School Students:
| • | Select a "hot button" political or social problem in our world. Create a mind map and analyze the causes, discrepancies, biases, and potential solutions to the problem. |
| • | When thinking about a potential career, use a mind map to brainstorm the elements that will affect your plans in pursuing this occupation. |
Resources
Microsoft Encarta Reference Library
This Microsoft Web site offers photographs, historical timelines, graphics, and text about virtually any subject.
National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T)
This Web site provides technology standards and information about technology integration.
