Tag: mind map tool

7 Ways to improve your Business with Free Mind mapping Software

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On May 16, 2016

In Business, Productivity

7 Ways to mprove your Business with Free Mind mapping Software

7 Ways to improve your Business with Free Mind mapping Software

What is the first thing that strikes you when you talk about mind mapping? For most people, it is a flowchart of ideas, concepts or tasks inter-connected with a root topic. They work their own charm in presenting a critical subject in a simple format. Mind maps are commonplace in various domains  such as education, business, administration, marketing etc. In corporate sector mind mapping is used for presentations, meetings, human resource development plans, project planning and knowledge management. Mind mapping software has been regarded as an effective communication & brainstorming tool in this sector.  Here are the seven  ways to improve your business with the use of a  free mind mapping software.

Must Read: Top 10 Productivity uses of Free Mind Mapping Software

  1. Generating ideas: Instead of manually noting down ideas; the key concepts can be added to a mind map by concept map maker tool. This will allow one to be more creative instead of restricting it. The various mind map software are user-friendly providing them the option to add shapes, colors & images automatically enhancing their creativity. For businesses, it aids in goal setting, capturing & defining  ideas to improve services.
  2. Presentation: Mind map tools allow entrepreneurs to present action plans or ideas in an eye-catching manner. With the usage of keywords and images, mind maps inspire crisp, comprehensible and stirring presentation. The structures of these maps are proven to simplify information recall. Instead of presenting through software like MS-PowerPoint, Keynote, PowToon etc. best mind mapping tools can be a great alternative wherein one can add files, web pages, and .doc files.
  3. Formulating business plans: Free mind map is an effective means of planning business agendas, meetings & goals in a fresh way. The software enables users to split up topics and arrange them into various branches, thus automatically joining sub-topics as secondary branches. This establishes connections between related tasks. The entrepreneur can, therefore, stay focused & organized.
  4. Tackling difficult situations: Whenever a crisis arises; with the usage of 5W1H (who, what, when, where, why, how) method one can simplify them in mind maps. This stimulates creativity & inspires brain to analyze the matter in a functional way. In matters of business, the managers are bombarded with various adverse situations from time to time. Hence, the usage of mind mapping tools instead of panicking will provide instantaneous results.
  5. Enhancing teamwork: Mind mapping tools smoothen the functioning of various departments in an organization & promotes teamwork. The contributions of various individuals in teams can be added to suitable branches also explored further, or be suspended for later discussion. Collaboration is a key ingredient to run an organization; this can be now achieved via mind maps.
  6. Manage projects: In order to improve business, one needs to manage time, data & other resources. Mind mapping software ease project management in different ways such as assigning tasks, setting deadlines, schedule activities etc. They can be used to create a simple to-do list or a work breakdown structure to achieve higher productivity.
  7. Better interaction: Mind maps are ideal means of communication. They are logical illustrations of topics & sub-topics; they help highlight the relationship between key points which cannot be achieved by common discussion methods. So the individuals working in an organization can easily get the point without hassle.

Also Read: Enhance your Productivity with The Best Mind Mapping Software

Simple Mind Mapping for Children

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On March 28, 2016

In Education & Career

Mind Mapping for Children, Mind Mapping for Kids

Mind Mapping for Children (Kids)

Mind Mapping is a breakthrough system of planning and note-taking that cuts homework time in half and makes schoolwork fun. One of the reasons why Mind Mapping works well is that it uses both sides of the human brain, taking the slightly more analytical left side and using words and relationships. It also benefits from the slightly more creative or colourful right side, using images and colours.

Adults normally tend to use more of the left side of their brains, using more words than images, more relationships than colours, etc. Children, on the other hand, tend to work the other way around. For young children who have not been exposed to the adult way of thinking, drawing pictures still comes as natural.

Must Read… Collaborative Mind Mapping for Students

How can Parents Induct Children into Mind Mapping?

Mind Mapping cannot really be taught to children, rather it should come naturally to them. Parents therefore, need to allow the children to explore the brain-thinking on their own.

Here are some tips that can help parents to coach their children to mind map.

  1. Assist the children to develop their own ideas rather than imposing your own ideas.
  2. Tell the children that they need to draw and can be as creative as they can get. So getting a white sheet of paper and some coloured pens would be the next step.
  3. Take a piece from one of their school books, or tell a story, making sure you use enough image words (words that are easily transformed into pictures).
  4. Make your child draw while you read the story from the book.
  5. When you are done reading and your child is done drawing, make your child relate the story using the drawing. This way you can find out if your child has understood the concept or not.
  6. If there are differences then investigate together helping the child understand what got missed out.
  7. Repeat the steps with more complex stories, and situations. Observe how your child depicts the ideas in the form of images.
  8. The final step is that you step away from your child, and you let them go through a book and create the images and story themselves.

The idea here is help children achieve a goal and enjoy studying.

Benefits of Mind Mapping

Here are some of the benefits of mind mapping:

  • Children can handle information in a much smarter and efficient manner that can also be fun.
  • Children love to draw and this is completely in line with their thinking.
  • Mind Mapping helps develop higher-level thinking and improve their reading comprehension
  • Mind Mapping is the children’s secret weapon to help them remember better, come up with creative ideas, save time, get better grades, excel at school, and most importantly have more fun

Studies have revealed that children who use mind mapping techniques have a clear advantage over other children, as every task or information they have is visually linked to something that is an outcome of their own thinking.

Also read… Mind Mapping Software for College Student

Examples of Mind Mapping for Children (Kids)

Below are some examples of simple mind maps created for school children to help them understand the concepts better:

Mind mapping for children kids

Mind mapping for children

The above image is to help children learn about the spring season showing information such as:

  • The flowers that bloom in spring
  • The weather during spring
  • The activities during spring

This mind map helps children learn about a farm and all people, animals, and objects found in a farm.

Facts and Figures

Here are some facts and figures about the benefits of mind mapping:

  • Research by Toi (2009)iii shows that Mind Mapping can help children recall words more effectively than using lists, with improvements in memory of up to 32%.
  • Glass and Holyoak (1986)iv found that by gathering and highlighting key branches within a boundary, such as a highlight cloud, one uses a memory technique known as chunking. Our short-term memory is on average only capable of storing seven items of information and chunking can help us use this storage space more effectively.
  • Goodnough and Woods (2002)vii discovered that students perceived Mind Mapping as a fun, interesting and motivating approach to learning. Several students attributed the fun aspect to the opportunity to be creative when creating Mind Maps through lots of choice in colour, symbols, key words and design.
  • Mind Mapping has been shown to bring a renewed sense of enthusiasm to the classroom because it increases student confidence and sense of skill in mastering assigned materials (Mento et al, 1999)viii

Mind Vector – Your Ideal Software for Mind Mapping

Mind Vector is a mind mapping tool that makes the art of mind mapping simple and children friendly.

The easy to use UI and flexibility to add images and create simple and complex maps on the automatically expanding canvas makes it interesting for children. You can add emotions to the nodes and sub-nodes and this feature instantly attracts the children.

Children can also learn to create common mind maps as part of group study and collaborate amongst themselves using the collaboration feature. This helps to collectively gather their ideas and teach them how to brain storm.

Mind Vector can be accessed from the Web, and Apple mobile devices. The easy accessibility of this tool helps children access the maps anywhere and make changes to them.

We can therefore conclude that with easy availability of appropriate tools, mind mapping can become a fun and easy approach to learning helping thousands of children the world over to enjoy their formative years.

Download Mind Vector App Now:

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Mind Mapping Software for College Students

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On March 23, 2016

In Education & Career

A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping one to better analyse, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas. Students use this technique to improve their memory and spend less time actually making notes.

The reason why mind maps work so well as a study tool is that they engage the students in whole brain thinking and allow them to see the big picture. They also help students to clarify their thoughts, simplify complex ideas, memorise information, and allow them to be creative so they do not get as bored as easily.

In an era of smart phones, tabs, and other gadgets using smart technology, students have come a long way from the time where they had to take down pages and pages of notes and remember each and every bit of information given to them by memorizing and rote.

Must read… Collaborative Mind Mapping Software for Students

Examples of Mind Maps Created by College Students

Below are some examples of mind maps created by college students:

Mind Mapping Software for Collage Students

Mind Mapping Software for Collage Students

The above is an example of a simple mind map for a college magazine, where all aspects of the magazine are put into the map.

Uses of Mind Mapping Software for College Students

Below are some of the uses of mind mapping for students.

  1. Making Notes – Mind Maps are a great way for students to make notes on all of the information they receive. Mind Maps help students to note down only the most important information using key words, and then make connections between facts and ideas visually – keeping all of the topic thoughts together on one sheet. This makes note making easier or students, as it reduces pages of notes into one single side of paper. Having one visual resource to refer to makes everything easier.
  1. Planning an Essay – Students get it all the time. Mind Maps help make a realistic plan for an essay, and create a logical structure for the introduction, main sections and conclusions. Mind Mapping focuses their mind on the message they want to get across and the key information they want to include, making them less likely to go off topic or start rambling – a great tool for making sure they hit the marking criteria.
  2. Studying for Exams – With Mind Mapping, studying and exams are no longer a terror. By simply reviewing the notes the students have made on each subject, and mind mapping the key information that they need to remember, even complex topics can be mastered in a jiffy. Students tend to remember more this way and maintain connections between ideas, which is ideal for answering examination questions.
  3. Creative Inspiration – Mind Mapping is a source of creative inspiration. It sparks billions of creative ideas, for students to turn into the next great novel or artwork. Mind Maps work in the same way as the human brain, meaning that when there is a thought – it could be an image, a word or a feeling – this instantly sparks off hundreds of connecting ideas. Some of the most creative plans have their origin in mind maps where people have just thrown in their random thoughts and connected them.
  4. Problem Solving – If there is a tough equation or obstacle to overcome, Mind Mapping can help see things clearly. When there is a problem, one normally panics. Instead of ‘forcing’ the mind to find a solution, Mind Mapping helps to open up many possibilities and options to solve the problem. One can add any ideas or resources one can think of, and the nature of mind mapping sparks off more possibilities from the original thoughts.
  5. Making Presentations - Making presentations at school, college or university can be daunting for students, but they are a great way of showing that they know the subject well and are confident to talk about it. With Mind Maps, presenting is a breeze for students. Reading from sheets of notes is boring for students – with Mind Mapping they only have keywords and images to stimulate their memory, so they automatically present in a more conversational way as they keep eye contact with their audience.
  6. Group Study – Group study can be a really fun way for students to share their knowledge, and Mind Mapping can help them to get the best out of a brainstorming session. First, they should make an individual Mind Map of their thoughts on the topic, and then they can combine the individual ideas and create a Mind Map that encompasses all the ideas and thoughts without anyone losing their personal insights and thoughts.

Examples of Mind Maps for Industrial Revolution

Mind Maps for Industrial Revolution

Mind Maps for Industrial Revolution

The above is an example of a mind map created for the Industrial Revolution and an easy way to remember all the aspects around the same.

Facts and Figures

Here are some facts and figures as to how Mind Mapping has helped college students.

  • According to a study conducted by Farrand, Hussain and Hennessey (2002), Mind Mapping improved the long-term memory of factual information in their participants by 10%.
  • A study by Al-Jarf (2009) confirms that Mind Mapping software offers a powerful approach for improving the ability of anyone to generate, visualise and organise ideas. The subjects taking part in the study reported that the Mind Mapping tool encouraged creative thinking in students and they became faster at generating and organising ideas for their writing.
  • Research by D’Antoni and Pinto Zipp (2005) found that, from a pool of 14 physical therapy students, 10 out of 14 agreed that the Mind Map technique enabled them to better organise and integrate the material presented in their course.
  • Goodnough and Long (2002) found Mind Mapping to be a useful strategy for introducing new concepts, providing a whole-class focus for a large research project, assessing learning of individuals and offering greater choice in how people chose to complete assignments and projects.

Mind Vector – Your Ideal Tool for Mind Mapping

Mind Vector is a mind mapping tool that makes the art of mind mapping simple and interesting for students.

The easy to use UI and flexibility to add images and create simple and complex maps on the automatically expanding canvas makes it interesting for students to expand their thought process and put in all aspects surrounding a subject. The ability to add notes and images to nodes and sub-nodes makes it a more user friendly tool.

Students can also create common mind maps as part of group study and collaborate amongst themselves using the collaboration feature. This helps to collectively gather all ideas and brain storm on complex topics.

Mind Vector can be accessed from the Web, and Apple mobile devices. The easy accessibility of this tool helps students access the maps anywhere and make changes to them.

We can therefore conclude that with easy availability of appropriate tools, mind mapping can become a useful technique for students to succeed in academics.

Download Mind Vector App Now:

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