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Mind-Mapping Tool

You and your students can use our mind-mapping tool (will open in a new window) to create a visual representation of the relationships between ideas or things they are studying for your class. There are more powerful mind-mapping tools available on the market; our tool emphasizes ease of use over robust functionality. Limitations include the following:

  • The text box does not automatically limit text according to the space available or automatically expand the shape to fit the text; if your text exceeds the size of the shape, you will need to adjust the size of the shape.
  • The font size and style of the text cannot be changed.
  • The mind maps can be saved as screenshots but these screenshots cannot be edited.

Examples

The graphic on this page is a screenshot of a mind map we created with our tool. For information about the instructional uses of mind mapping and more examples of mind maps, see our Mind Mapping page in our Learning Activities section.

Use Instructions

To create a mind map with the tool, save it, and share it with others, follow the instructions below. Include our copyright statement (will open in a new window) with it if you distribute the original or customized file and on any materials you create with the tool. Please note: these files are provided as is. We do not have the resources to provide customization support.

1. Open the Tool

  1. To use the tool as-is on our server, open it in a new window and follow the instructions below.
  2. To store the tool on your computer or server, download our zipped Shockwave Flash file. A mindmap-swf.zip file should appear on your desktop. Unzip it if necessary.
  3. If you are an experienced Flash developer and would like to customize the tool for your own use, download our zipped Macromedia Flash file. A mindmap-fla.zip file should appear on your desktop. Unzip it if necessary.

2. Draw Shapes

Select tools from the toolbar along the left edge of the screen to draw and edit shapes in the white "canvas" next to the toolbar.

  1. Select the New Shape button on the toolbar. A box will appear on the canvas.
  2. To change the box to another shape, select one of the icons in the Shapes box on the toolbar. A red box will appear around the icon and the box on the canvas will change to the shape you selected.
  3. To change the color of a shape, select a shape on the canvas. A box will appear around the shape. Select a color in the Colors box on the toolbar. The shape on the canvas will be filled with the color you selected.
  4. To resize a shape, select a shape on the canvas and type the number of pixels you want the height and width to become in the the height and width boxes on the toolbar. The default is 100 pixels.

3. Add Text

  1. To add text to a shape, create or select a shape on the canvas, then type in the box on the toolbar labeled Insert Text Here.
  2. The amount of text you can see on the canvas is limited by the boundary box around the shape. If you can't see all of the text you typed in the previous step, resize the shape by following step 2d.
  3. To put text on the canvas (not in a shape), select the New Shape button, then select None in the Shapes box on the toolbar or select Shapes on the canvas and select None. Type the text you want to appear on the canvas in the box on the toolbar labeled Insert Text Here.

4. Connect Shapes/Text

  1. To draw a line between two shapes or text blocks on the canvas, select the New Line button on the toolbar. A line will appear on the canvas.
  2. To change the appearance of a line, select either end of a line on the canvas. A red box will appear at one end of the line and a green triangle at the other. Select a line style in the Lines box or an arrow style in the Arrows box on the toolbar. The line on the canvas will change to the styles you selected.
  3. To change the position and/or length of a line, select either end of a line on the canvas. A red box will appear at one end of the line and a green triangle at the other. Select the red box or green circle and drag it to the place you want that end of the line to appear on the canvas.

5. Delete Objects

  1. To remove a shape, text block, or line from the canvas, select it and then select the Delete button on the toolbar.
  2. To remove all items from the canvas, select the refresh button on your browser menu.

6. Save and Share the Mind Map

  1. Take a screenshot of the image:
    • On PCs, select PrintScreen.
    • On Macintosh computers, select Apple/Command + Shift + 3.
  2. Save or rename the file:
    • On PCs, the file will appear on your clipboard. Open an application such as Microsoft Word and select Paste from the Edit menu, then save the file.
    • On Macintosh computers, a file entitled Picture [number] (the file may have a different number depending on previous use of the screenshot function) will appear on your System Hard Disk (Mac OS 9 and earlier) or the Desktop (OS X). Rename and move the file.
  3. You can print the file, send it to someone else, or include the graphic in a word processing, desktop publishing, or HTML document.

Last modified Tuesday, 19-Jun-2007 15:32:13 CDT