Thinking Online with Mind Manager
A Software Review by Jean Marrapodi

 

In 1997, Don Tapscott wrote
“The Net-Generation is here. Eighty-eight million offspring produced by 85 million baby boomers have eclipsed their parents in size and impact…. What makes this generation different from its predecessors is not just its demographic muscle, but it is the first to grow up surrounded by digital media. Computers and other digital technologies, such as digital cameras, are common place to N-Gen members. They work with them at home, in school, and they use them for entertainment. Increasingly these technologies are connected to the Internet, an expanding web of networks which is attracting a million new users monthly. Constantly surrounded by technology, today's kids are accustomed to its strong presence in their lives. Today's kids are so bathed in bits that they are no more intimidated by digital technology than a VCR or a toaster. And it is through their use of the digital media that N-Gen will develop and superimpose its culture on the rest of society. Boomers stand back. Already these kids are learning, playing, communicating, working, and creating communities very differently than their parents. They are a force for social transformation.” [emphasis added] (Growing Up Digital, excerpt at http://www.dontapscott.com/thebooks_growing.html )

Seven years after Mr. Tapscott’s insights we see that it is no longer just the children who are digitally savvy. The technology has been superimposed on our culture as he predicted. Many adults are as just as plugged in—they would no longer be found without their PDA than their pants at a business meeting. A power outage drives business to its knees because workers cannot access their PCs. The reality is that we are dependent on our mice and our keyboards and our electronic gizmos to function in our digital age.

In the realm of accelerated learning we don’t often discuss computers and technology because they are considered just another commonplace tool. Why discuss pencils, after all? I would like to posit that we consider the marriage of two of our favorite tools: mind mapping and computers.

Mind mapping, as developed by Tony Buzan in the late 1960s, is the process of starting with a central idea and extending it as ideas occur into a web of interconnectedness. In a quick google of “mind mapping” this thought arose: “Mind Mapping is now widely recognised [sic] as the single most effective and versatile thinking and creativity tool and is used throughout the world. “(http://www.mind-mapping.co.uk/mind-mapping-training-courses.htm) I am not sure of the validity of this statement world wide, but I would agree that it is an incredibly useful thinking and creativity tool. I have mind mapped with markers, colored pencils and sticky notes and love the way I can organize my thinking through it or document new ideas when brainstorming with a group.

Within the last year, I was introduced to Mind Manager software, put out by the folks at MindJet. (http://www.mindjet.com) The beauty of Mind Manager is its ability to interface with other software products including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Project. Imagine being able to do a brain dump, rearrange your thoughts, and export the entire process into a slide show! How about being able to document all the minute aspects of tracking a project plan, rearrange the order, assign tasks and export it all into a formalized project plan? Or better still, how about being able to take a complex project plan, import it into a piece of software that allows you to see the big picture, organize, rearrange and reset it in the project plan? Mind Manager allows for all of this and more. Imagine this: taking a three inch pile of highlighted journal articles, extracting the salient points, grouping and lining them up into thematic branches and producing the outline for a 35-page research paper in less than an hour? Mind Manager also allows for the linking of documents so one may link the related documents to the piece for easy retrieval.

Mind Manager starts with a tabula rasa labeled “Central Idea”. Double-clicking allows you to change that to your main topic.

Pressing [Enter] then typing produces the initial main idea. Pressing [Insert] allows you to insert a sub-topic or pressing [Enter] allows for another main idea. These topics can be collapsed and expanded using the plus and minus signs similar to the folder structure of Windows Explorer so you can work in detail on one section without being impeded by the clutter of everything else in the way.

Strands may be color-coded and icons added. Mind Manger comes with a library of colorful icons that are simply dragged onto the workspace to be used. There are also prioritization flags to color code importance. Floating ideas may be added, and interconnecting lines between ideas on different stems may be drawn in. Groups can be circled to show relationships.

 

The click of a tab converts this to an outline.

Sending the file to Word or PowerPoint is as easy as File, Send to

With no editing, a complete PowerPoint presentation is ready:

 

Maps may also be used in presentation mode from Mind Manager, where each spoke is expanded and discussed and collapsed and greyed out as things move on to the next topic.

If this is being used for project planning, a task pane allows you to select a topic and assign the task timing and details to it. This may be exported to Outlook as well a Microsoft Project.

 

Maps can be created on a Pocket PC for those spur of the moment ideas but may also be worked on collaboratively with the networked version. A reviewing feature is available so each individual’s edits are documented. This is great for a virtual team in the planning process or for a classroom working in small groups where each student will approach the task separately.

 

Maps can also be started in brainstorming mode, where ideas are typed in randomly and organized afterwards. This is how I organized the information from my recent research paper on metacognition.

Ideas are typed in, then dragged around to organize them.

The program comes with an extensive tutorial section with a variety of selected maps to inspire,

as well as a large set of templates to jump start your planning.

 

Mind Manager is a little pricy-- $199 for the individual version, $299 for the Pro version, which allows for the exporting to MS Project and networkability, although group licensing prices are available on the website. You can also download a free 21 day trial that lets you experiment with the software to see if it will work in your world.

I have used Inspiration, Visio and PowerPoint for brainstorming and mind mapping, but have not found anything that is so easy to use and allows me to work as fast as I can think. That’s the beauty of Mind Manager—it’s a tool that serves as an extension of my brain when I’m thinking. Abraham Maslow said, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” I must admit that Mind Manager is a pretty darn good hammer for mind mapping and general planning. It isn’t the going to be the panacea for all of your problems, but it’s a good start to finding a solution while accelerating the process.

Jean Marrapodi is a Senior Education Specialist at Private Healthcare Systems. She also serves as Director of Christian Education at Providence Assembly of God, a ministry to the inner city. She regularly hosts workshops on learning and better teaching, and is a PhD student at Capella University in Adult Education. For more information and additional resources, check out her website at applestar.org.