Mind Maps in Education

The story of Tony Buzan, as told in the Mind Map History article, going into the library asking for a manual on using the brain, is legendary. He was directed to the medical section!

We have come a long way since then. A lot of the Mind Map’s progress can be related to the success of Mind Maps in Education. Even though Mind Maps in Education have so much proven success, it is still only applied half-heartedly in mainstream education worldwide. Old habits die hard!

I am always amazed how few people use Mind Maps to learn. Even though I believe that it’s the best memory tool around, and that having a Visual Overview of any subject is the best way to memorize the main principles, this sentiment is not shared by many educators. In fact, they won’t even try it.

I say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Give it a go. I recommend that you use it for summaries first. Only once you have memorized the summary, should you move onto the details.

I find that learners who apply this with an open mind are almost always pleasantly surprised by the results. You may also be…

After reading Tony Buzan’s Use your head for the first time, I was armed with the ‘power’ of Key Words on Mind Maps. Key Words would save me 90% of the time wasted when recording information and it would save another 90% when recalling information.

I would be able to recall large volumes of information by just recalling a few Key Words that would trigger the unlimited capacity of my brain.

I wrote this article on Key Words, as I always struggled with choosing the correct Key Words for my Mind Maps, especially when I wanted to follow Tony Buzan’s rule of one Key Word per branch. (For the uninformed, Tony Buzan is the inventor of Mind Maps). He is a genius and even headed up Mensa (the High-IQ society).

My question is, ‘Does it work for mere mortals like you and me?’

Creativity: now there’s a word I thought I wouldn’t see under attack. Don’t we live in a society that thrives on the idea of innovation and creative thought? The age of the entrepreneur, of the man of ideas, of Steve Jobs and the think different motto? Well, yes and no. That is, indisputably yes on the surface. But no in a way that you might not expect: we may say we value creativity, we may glorify the most imaginative among us, but in our heart of hearts, imagination can scare us.

This is a very interesting article on the fear of being creative and how often it is actually suppressed in organisations and learning institutions.

When I speak to potential Mind Mappers, they often tell me that they are not creative and therefore Mind Maps will not work for them.

Yet I’ve found even the most ‘uncreative’ individuals coming up with very creative ideas once they start using Mind Maps.

The visual aspects of a Mind Map naturally let them explore their ideas freely and the structure that a Mind Map provides makes them ‘feel safe’. This combination enables them to go beyond the boundaries that they normally restrict themselves to.

So, the next time you are looking for a solution to a problem, or need to come up with a new idea, try to do a quick Mind Map on the topic and see what you come up with.

You can keep the idea to yourself, if you feel that the ideas you generate are too outrageous. But, every so often, you should push the boundaries and not only think outside the box, but throw the box away!