Mind+Meister

by Philip Morales

**Introduction**
MindMeister is an on-line concept mapping program that allows for real-time collaboration. This program allows users to create, manage and share mind maps on-line and access them anytime, from anywhere. As you know, concept mapping is a popular planning technique with applications in education. This technique allows for ideas to be organized and also allows for the student/teacher to form visual connections between concepts.

The MindMeister program is designed to be user friendly. The site itself has an intro video to help explain how the program works and the program itself has several tutorial features. The program has been designed to run on several different types of web browsers and use little CPU power. What if you don't have a computer? There is a app for iPods, iPads, and iPhones that will allow you to access your maps at anytime you want. The site offers a __//**free**// //**version**//__ that requires only a email account to join. The free version allows you to create up to three concept maps. The down side is that some of the bells and whistles are not available in the free version, but you still get the main features.

**How to Incorporate this into your classroom**
As a science teacher, I am often trying to establish connections between two or more concepts. What I use in my classroom is a dry erase white board and markers. This program would allow me to build an ongoing concept map that can highlight the connections between several concepts. I could then have my students use it for studying and/or for projects. With MindMeister, I can instantly share any mind map with friends and colleagues. Invitees will receive an email with a link and - depending on what access I give them - will be able to either contribute to or just view my map. To share my map with the entire world, I would simply click the 'Publish' button and integrate the map into my blog or website.

Features

 * **Free limited trial **
 * **Thousands of published concept maps **
 * **Mobile access **
 * **Offline capability **
 * **Secure online storage of maps **
 * **Full personalization on maps **
 * **Real-Time mapping capability **

Online Examples

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