Concept mapping with Coggle

Concept maps and mind maps are a way to organize questions, ideas, information, and multimedia into a visual map that makes it easy to convey information and important concepts. There are several online services that you can use to create concept maps and mind maps. In this post I will give you an example of one way to use concept maps collaborative in the classroom. 

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is a young adult novel that I like to share with students in my English classes. The book, notable for being written entirely in verse, tells the story of twin brothers who are going through major changes in their lives. Basketball and jazz music have significant roles in the story, and I want to introduce students to some background knowledge before we read the book. 

For this cooperative learning assignment, I partner students in groups of three or four and ask them to work together on a concept map. Students will use Coggle.it, an online service that enables real time collaboration on concept maps and mind maps. 

Each student in the group will be responsible for their own branch of the concept map. Each branch begins with a question or concept that the student will research, and then answer within the shared concept map on Coggle. 

Here is the start of a concept map for one group of three students. 

Objective: After contributing to a collaborative concept map on Coggle, students will be able to explain important characters and concepts relevant to The Crossover.

Students are instructed to expand the concept map as follows:

• Define the term or answer the question in your own words
• Link to at least one relevant video that helps further our understanding
• Use at least one relevant image

This is an example of content that a student would contribute to his portion of the concept map. 

In this example, students will gain knowledge that leads to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the book as we proceed to read it. The teacher can extend this lesson by having groups present their finished concept maps to the class. (Be sure to preview the information and links first!)

Here is the finished concept map. Blue text indicates links to additional content.

After reading the novel, the concept maps can be revisited for post-reading reflection. The original groups can reconvene, and the branches of the map can be rotated among members of the group so that each student is expanding on the contributions of their peers. As the teacher, I can add additional questions to the concept map for students to consider. 

Multimedia Design Principles

The pre-reading activity above is an example of how concept maps can be used to apply the pre-training principle. Students learn better when the names and characteristics of concepts in advance of seeing new multimedia messages. Completed concept maps can be shared and browsed at a student's own pace, an example of applying the segmenting principle that says that learners learn better when messages are digested at the learner's own pace.