Mind Map Tutor - Using Mind Maps to Learn Faster and Easier

Mind Map Software can make you more productive

Faizel Mohidin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:09:14 +0000

Skilled users of mind mapping software are significantly more productive, research shows
http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/productivity-research-mind-mapping-software/

Investing time in improving your skill with mind mapping software can have a strong payoff in improved productivity, according to a deeper analysis of my survey research.
Last year, I conducted a survey that showed that mind mapping software is the ideal productivity tool for today’s busy executives. After writing about Biggerplate.com’s new training program on the blog this morning, I got to wondering about the connection between mind mapping skill level and the benefits enjoyed from it. Intuitively, it seems there should be a direct correlation between the two. After all, the more skilled you are with a software program, you can work faster and more efficiently, and apply it to a greater number of tasks. Wouldn’t it be great if I had some real-world data to back up that assertion, I wondered? Then I suddenly realized that I may have this data, embedded in last year’s survey results.

Chuck Frey runs arguably the best blog on Mind Mapping Software.

This is a great article of his on the proclivity gains of Mind Mappers – with the evidence to back it up!

So, if you are not yet using Mind Map Software, now is the time to get started.

English Grammar Mind Map Tutor

Faizel Mohidin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:35:54 +0000

English Grammar Mind Map Tutor
http://www.usingmindmaps.com/english-grammar-mind-map-tutor.html

Improve your English quickly and easily…
Here’s the easy way to improve your English in a way that works with your brain’s natural learning mechanisms so that you learn in a way that is interactive, colourful and fun.
Would you like to improve your English Grammar, but the thought of working through another English Handbook makes you shudder?
Are you learning English at University, College, or School?
Do you wish you could use English better in the workplace, or in your business?
Are you learning English as an additional language?
Would you like to improve your knowledge of English Grammar in an easy, fun way?

At school, I always found it difficult to learn and remember the English Grammar rules, even though English is my mother tongue. I live in a country where English is often a second or third language, and I see how people make simple grammar mistakes on a daily basis.

This was part of the inspiration that initiated the development of an English Grammar Mind Map Tutor.

Mind Maps enabled me to create a Visual Learning Tool that enables you to quickly reference the core English Grammar principles, with examples. It also puts you, the learner, at the centre of the learning process, as you can interact with the material and add own own notes and examples where you see fit.

As simple as it looks now, it was also one of the most complex and difficult Mind Maps that I have ever created, as grammar sources are not often structured very well. I also tried to relate the various Grammar aspects in a way that makes sense so that hierarchy and association, two key aspects of memory, are included in the structure of the Mind Maps.

The result is an interactive tool that makes the mastering of English Grammar simpler, easier and faster.

You may prefer your normal, linear method of learning and improving your Grammar, but if you think that a Mind Map Visual Guide can help you, then you owe it to yourself to get our English Grammar Mind Map Tutor today!

Mind Maps, Aging Brains and Wisdom

Faizel Mohidin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:28:41 +0000

Myths of Aging Brains and Wisdom
http://www.brainleadersandlearners.com/aging-brain/myths-of-aging-brains-and-wisdom/

It was once held that adult brains cannot grow new cells or regenerate old ones. Recent research on aging though, is trumping commonly held myths about age as a free ticket to wisdom. It turns out that choices made daily overtly impact your brain’s ability to act wisely or not, on the following day.

Tony Buzan, in his book ‘The Age Heresy’, says that the brain can get better as you get older. This article provides new evidence to show that this is true. But, it depends on how you use your brain on a daily basis.

By using Mind Maps regularly, your brain is forming new neural networks and thus developing more and more pathways to remember things, thus growing and becoming better.

Depending on how you behave on a daily basis, your brain can improve as you get older.

Image:

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Faizel Mohidin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:17:36 +0000

Mind Maps – “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste” | ExamTime
http://examtime.com/exam-tips/mind-maps-a-mind-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste/

A Mind Map is basically another way of displaying information to help you remember the important points of a subject or module. Exams are one of the biggest pressures students face and anything that can help you in your quest for the best results can only be a positive thing.

As the academic year may start at various different times for all over you over the coming weeks, perhaps this would be a good time to evaluate how successful your revision methods have been in 2011.

This article caught my eye, as many learners don’t believe Mind Maps can be used for higher education.

Mind Maps can be used at the highest levels. So start with your summaries and progressively increase the amount of detail on your Mind Maps.

You can also continuously work on your learning process. Like any professional athlete, you need to work on, and tweak, your skills all the time so that your mind can continue to expand your mind.

You can learn faster and easier by maximizing the power of your mind with Mind Maps and improving your learning process.

http://www.usingmindmaps.com/learning-management-program.html

Interesting case study on using Mind Maps

Faizel Mohidin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:42:45 +0000

Initiating Inquiry: Mindmapping and Fishbowl Discussions for Connecting and Building Background Knowledge
http://alalearning.org/2012/01/23/initiating-inquiry-mindmapping-and-fishbowl-discussions-for-connecting-and-building-background-knowledge/

Susan Lester’s 10th Honors World Literature/Composition students recently began a novel study of All Quiet on the Western Front. Since students knew little about World War I, we gave students the opportunity to choose a World War I topic of interest to them ( a menu was provided but students could come up with their own topics, too) to research. Susan and I decided to help students dwell in the connecting stage of inquiry by having students mindmap their research and then share those findings in a Fishbowl discussion group. Using mindmaps that Howard Rheingold’s students created and published as our models, we gave students the choice for the tools and mediums they wanted to use to mindmap the key ideas and findings of their research on their topic. Most preferred creating their mindmaps with concrete materials like paper and ink, but others like using Word or Bubbl.us.

I found this case study extremely informative on using Mind Maps to learn. Pay particular attention to the discussion groups, the reasons why the Mind Maps did not work so wel,l and the actions taken to rectify the situation.

Using Effective Reading to increase your English Vocabulary

Faizel Mohidin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:01:51 +0000

(Effective) reading to increase your English vocabulary
http://speakspeak.com/learning-tips/reading-to-increase-your-english-vocabulary

Reading in English is a great way for learners to improve their vocabulary. By reading we can learn new words, and we can immediately see these new words in their correct context. We can also consolidate vocabulary that we have learned in the past.

Many learners, though, approach reading in English in the wrong way. If your method is bad, reading in a foreign language can be hard and boring. And if a subject doesn’t interest you, you will learn very little.

Here are six simple tips to help make your reading both enjoyable and effective.

Some great tips to improve your English vocabulary, if you are learning English as a foreign language.

You can use this with our English Grammar Mind Map Tutor (http://www.usingmindmaps.com/english-grammar-mind-map-tutor.html) to learn English more effectively.

By using different methods, you naturally use your brain more effectively and increase your chances of learning English faster and easier.

Hamlet Mind Map Tutor

Faizel Mohidin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:31:24 +0000

Hamlet Mind Map Tutor
http://www.usingmindmaps.com/hamlet-mind-map-tutor.html

If you are learning Hamlet, then know that you are learning what is probably the best play ever written.
Hamlet is the most famous of Shakespeare’s plays and also his longest. Every famous actor throughout the ages wanted to play Hamlet and some did it better than others, even though they all thought they did him justice.

Hamlet is a complex character and needs an accomplished actor. Most actors that played him were too old. Hamlet was about 29-30 years old, but most actors are much older before they are accomplished enough to play Hamlet. There are even many cases where his mother is played by a younger actress than the prince himself!

Being such a complex play, it may serve you well to have a look at our approach to learning Hamlet.

In this fast paced world, there has been a change in learning behaviour. Shakespeare’s plays are more difficult than ever for learners to grasp, as it takes a lot of time and effort, and fewer people are reading long and difficult pieces.

Lots of Study Guides and study material have therefore evolved to help learners. We found that most of them were still boring, linear notes.

We therefore decided to team up with an associate, Barbara Wellbeloved, to put together a set of Interactive Mind Map Tutors to help you learn Shakespeare’s plays faster and easier.

Technology has made it easier than ever for you to get access to this kind of material quickly and affordably.

The power of Mind Map Software also makes it easier to put you at the centre of the learning process.

So, if you are a student of Shakespeare, or simply love his classical works, then get hold of our Hamlet Mind Map Tutor today and start interactively exploring and learning the play with whole brain learning methods.

Is Informal Learning the solution?

Faizel Mohidin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:53:37 +0000

Harold Jarche » Informal learning, the 95% solution
http://www.jarche.com/2012/01/informal-learning-the-95-solution/

Informal learning is not better than formal training; there is just a whole lot more of it. It’s 95% of workplace learning, according to the research behind this graphic, by Gary Wise.
Since the latter half of the 20th century, we have gone through a period where training departments have been directed to control organizational learning. It was part of the Taylorist, industrial model that also compartmentalized work and ensured that only managers were allowed to make decisions. In this context, only training professionals were allowed to talk about learning. But formal training, usually in the guise of courses, is like a hammer that sees all problems as nails. Unfortunately, these nails only account for 5% of organizational learning.

This article states that informal learning counts for 95% of workplace learning. I don’t know whether it is as high as that, but I know that most of my learning in the last 20 years has been informal. In fact I felt that it is so important that I put together a learning management program (http://www.usingmindmaps.com/learning-management-program.html) that can enable you to learn faster and more effectively.

Having a system, even for your informal learning, can ensure that you have a competitive advantage. As Arie de Geus said: ‘Your ability to learn faster than your competitors may be your only sustainable competitive advantage.’

I also suggest that you put together a Mind Map Learning Portal (http://www.usingmindmaps.com/mind-map-learning-portal.html) of all your learning resources for quick access to important and relevant information and knowledge sources. With Mind Map Software, you are able to make it interactive and access anything that you need at the click of a button (or the tap of a finger on your iPad).

Whatever route you take, ensure that you embark on a journey of lifelong learning today.

Create a Mind Map Learning Portal for each of your favourite subjects

Faizel Mohidin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:22:35 +0000

The Mind Map Learning Portal

Learning Portals are more prevalent in bigger organisations, where Internet Technology is used to provide employees with a central place to manage all the knowledge they need to perform their duties.

While Learning Portals are normally websites and are mainly used by larger organisations, I feel that you could put together a Mind Map Learning Portal to keep all the resources for a particular subject in one interactive Mind Map.

I have provided a Free Template for you on our website to download and use with Xmind, which is free OpenSource Software. You can add hyperlinks to websites, videos, files, etc. and access them with the click of a button.

I also use this framework when researching a new topic.

What other uses can you think of?

via ScribeFire

The Power of Play in Learning how to Mind Map

Faizel Mohidin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:40:00 +0000

The Power of Play in Learning | MindShift
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2012/01/the-power-of-play-in-learning/

The goal of the videogame “Civilization” is to build a civilization that stands the test of time. You start the game in 4000 B.C. as a settler and, with successful gameplay, can create a civilization that lasts until the Space Age. Throughout the game, you need to manage your civilization’s military, science, technology, commerce and culture.
One doesn’t read “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” to develop strategy before playing the game. One starts by playing. This is true for all videogames. You start by exploring the world with curiosity and begin to develop a hypothesis of what you’re supposed to do. Through trial, error, pattern recognition, logic and chance you continually reformulate your trajectory.
Students begin to develop a self-reliance that enjoys independent experimentation and exploration.

You can learn a lot from experimentation and exploration. Once you have the basics of Mind Mapping under control, start experimenting and exploring different techniques. Don’t be afraid to ‘play’ with different options.

You may prefer lots of images, or perhaps words are your thing.

Think of the minimum number of words to record your thoughts or ideas. Do you prefer lots of colours, bold lines, organic branches or clean lines?

There are so many options. Don’t be afraid. Just try whatever comes to mind – and review afterwards.

I normally encourage beginners to try Mind Mapping with images only, as in our article (http://www.usingmindmaps.com/how-to-mind-map-1.html).

Kids normally take to this better than adults, as their preferred method of learning is still by playing.

Is learning still fun for you?