Blogging Experience

    I am really glad that I got to participate in this blogging experience.  Since I never had my own blog before I really appreciated the blog creation component of this class.  Since this was the first blog I created I kept thinking about am I doing this right? Am I posting comments the way they are suppose to be posted?  Throughout this semester my confidence with blogging has definitely grown.  The constraints of this assignment often held me back from wanting to post ideas about various educational topics.  For instance, there would be an article or resource that I found that made me think of another topic in education, but since it wasn't my blog topic I didn't feel as though I could comment on it.  Also, I feel that in the very beginning of my blog I grouped a couple ideas together in one post, resulting in my running low on ideas for additional blog postings near the end of the semester.

  There are a couple things that I learned from this experience.  For starters, I learned that blogs aren't really that hard to create and manage.  I always thought they would be time consuming to create, but that is not the case.  Also, I like how blogs can be a single location where a person can see an ample amount of resources and opinions on a single topic or various topics.  It makes it very convenient when trying to learn about something new.

  Looking back on my blogging experience there are a couple aspects in which I feel I could improve upon.  One thing would be to relate my blog more to the comments from the people who followed my blog.  I feel that this would help the followers to feel more connected with content being provided as well as me being more connected to them.  I would also provide more links to resources as well as talk more about personal experiences with the topic.  I feel that this would provide with a more rich context for any given topic.  Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and thank you for all of your comments!!

How to create your own mashup

  I thought this week I would try and find information on how to create your own mashup.  I looked through a couple of websites of step by step procedures helping you set up a mashup, but each step I found very confusing.  The language that was used seemed very confusing to me, so confusing that it seemed like you had to have a background in technology in order to set one up.  I'll provide a link below of one of the websites I looked at, and I was wondering if any of you had an opinion on why you thought they might make them difficult to set up.  Or do you think with time this is something that may become easier.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6956418_make-google-maps-mashup.html

A collection of Mashups....

      This week I wasn't sure what I wanted to research about mapping mashups, so I thought I would just do a general search and see what would come up.  When doing so I found this interesting website that groups various mapping mashups and puts them all in one location.  There are mashups from basketball tournaments, fishing spots, unsafe cities etc.  This website also allows you to "follow" the mashups as well.  I'm not entirely sure what they mean by this but I am assuming that the website would update of any changes made to that mashup.  I personally enjoyed looking at the various mashups that are created because I didn't realize the wide variety of them.  I'll post the website below so you all can have look!  Let me know if you come across any that surprise you or are ones that you would like to follow!

The website is: http://www.programmableweb.com/tag/mapping

On a different note...

     This week I decided to talk about something different than security issues.  I decided to talk about the bright side of mapping mashups and how they can be really useful in today's world.  I came across this website that allows you to create your own map mashup.  It allows you to create it by; choosing the exact location (either coordinates, or street address) a caption that can be displayed along with a caption that you can put with your marker (you can also choose a different color for the flag that represents whatever you are talking about).  When I first came across this website a couple ideas came to mind.  I thought it would be really clever for people who travel a lot to plot out different restaurants, museums, scenic views etc throughout their travels and make a blog about it!  This allows you to see what other travels suggest seeing or maybe what specifically they ate a restaurant they really enjoyed and would recommend.
     When I saw the coordinates option I automatically thought of people who are out on the water.  This could be really handy for divers who are looking for new dive spots.  Maybe there is a shipwreck you haven't discovered yet or a coral reef that a lot of fish have migrated to recently.  These are just some ideas I thought of, off of my own interests, does anyone else have any ideas and how they could use this with their interests or hobbies?


The website I found is: http://www.mapbuilder.net/

Mashup Security

* I tried researching about security surrounding mapping mashups and I couldn't find a lot of current information.  The information I found is about 2 years old and concerns the businesses that are using mashups and not the users.  For instance, there is certain security put in place for businesses so third-party users cannot hack into their business and destroy or steal documents.  Security is needed here because mashups integrate information from two different producers.  When reading about business security the articles read more as "this is what we are doing to see if this helps the problem."  It didn't sound as though there was a definite form of security that worked.

* The one piece of information that I found on user security is that mashup sites don't have rules stating how people's personal information can be used.  With this being said I was curious to see if any of you could think of rules that you feel would be appropriate or are needed for mashup sites in order to keep people's information safe?

Some interesting facts about Mapping Mashups

Below is a scenario that really helped me to understand how this application works:

"     As part of a large undergraduate history course he teaches about World War II, Dr. Martinez developed a mapping mashup that he introduces to the 150 stu- dents at the beginning of the semester. The mashup, which works with Google maps, represents major events leading up to and during the war. Fundamen- tally, it’s a map, he explains, showing them on a pro- jection screen that it works very much like the online mapping tools students regularly use. The map covers virtually the entire globe, and users can move around the world, zooming in and out, showing the area of search as a map, satellite images, or satellite images with maps, dates, and events superimposed.

     When students zoom in on Europe, they see flags scattered around the continent and into Asia. Simi- lar maps dot Japan, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. When clicked, each flag opens a pop-up box that names the location, explains what happened there and when, and shows a photograph of that site at or close to the date in question. Flags correspond to important battles, political events, treaties that were signed, and cities such as Vichy, the wartime capi- tal of France. The text in the box also includes links to articles that talk in depth about what took place in each location and the significance of that event. Stu- dents can zoom in to particular locations and see sat- ellite images of what the place looks like today. They can also get an idea about the terrain where soldiers fought and died." ( http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7016.pdf. )

Positive of Mapping Mashups:

* explains more thoroughly relationships as opposed to text and numbers

Negatives of Mapping Mashups:

* Commercial mapping systems focus largely on North American and Europe

* Making a application work properly requires strong technical skills and a considerable amount of time

Simple way of thinking about Mapping Mashups

** When you do a google search for instance "Restaurants in Rome, Italy"- the google map that pops up with all the peach colored flags that show you the location of restaurants is an example of Mapping Mashups

Mapping Mashups

     I am starting a new blog topic and it is on "Mapping Mashups."  I personally have never heard of Mapping Mashups before, but after doing some research on it, it is basically a map (like google earth) with data placed on top of it.  An example I saw in an article is a map of the United States and alumni from Syracuse University for instance, could see where their fellow classmates have ended up.  Or colleges could see how their recruitment is holding up across various parts of the Country or World.  I am curious if any of you have heard of Mapping Mashups before and what the context was.

An interesting youtube video on mindmaps

    I came across this youtube video that shows a famous author of books discussing topics surrounding the brain and learning and his take on mindmaps.  I think he brings up a couple good points during his interview, but there are some that I don't agree with as well.  The ideas I like is when he described mindmaps as "a thinking tool that reflects externally what goes on inside your head."  I also agree with him when he talks about how mindmaps are effective because they make associations with multiple ideas.  What I don't necessarily agree with him on is when he said that rigid lines in mindmaps don't make them as effective.  These are my thoughts on the interview....I was wondering what you all thought!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlabrWv25qQ

Mind map templates

     As I was reading more information on mind maps I came across one website that provides templates for you to use.  I didn't like this idea because I felt that it contradicted the whole idea about why mind maps work.  In my opinion they are so beneficial because they allow the learner to create something that will benefit their learning, if they are given a template to go off of it limits their creativity and personally I feel the benefit of creating a mindmap.  I was wondering what you all thought, any opinions on this?

A reading for another class....

      While I was reading for another class I came across this sentence,

"Student- constructed concept maps can provide information to teachers as well as to students, in particular, such maps may indicate possible misconceptions and 'holes' in students understanding" (Ormrod, 2008).

    This was discussed in the chapter about Metacognition, Self-Regulated Learning and Study strategies.  I thought I would pass this along as another way to think about mindmaps.  When I read this the part that stood out the most to me was finding "holes" in what students know.  Sometimes students can bluff their way through a paper by only highlighting on concepts that they know, but I feel this is harder with mindmaps because there are so many ideas that are connected with one another that students really have to know the concept and how the ideas relate to one another.

Inspiration, not the only Mind Map software out there

   I decided I would spend some time this week looking at various software available designed for mind-mapping.  I came across this one call Mindjet.  This one was interesting because it allows you to send your mindmap through various social networking sites, such as twitter, facebook etc.  Also, if you have a Mac computer it allows you to share your mindmap while you are ichating with someone which I thought was a very cool feature.

http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindmanager-mac/features.


Mind Genius is another software, but there website wasn't very user friendly to me, and this software didn't seem as useful as others.

http://www.mindgenius.com/products.aspx


ThinkBuzan is another mindmap product out there.  This one seems to be focused on apple products; iphone, ipad, mac computers.  Which I found very interesting that this feature could be on your phone!

http://www.thinkbuzan.com/us/products/imindmapoutline?utm_nooverride=1&gclid=CKyxqrr5raQCFZpN5Qod7WH-0g.


Well I hope you enjoy looking at these various types of software!

Mind Maps for assessment

     Looking in to mind maps more and thinking about how they can be used as assessments I have started to think about how they could be graded.  Since they can be produced in a variety of ways I think it is very important for a teacher to have a specific rubric they are using while looking at various mind maps to make sure that the quality of all the mind maps are the same.
     Just from beginning to think about a rubric some aspects that I see as important are making sure they get a specific number of ideas as well as the connection made between the ideas are sufficient.  Depending on the various tasks the teacher would have to determine what "sufficient" meant.  Math may mean that the student rounded correctly or identified that the number was odd or even etc.  The idea of making a rubric can be a complex task and something that would have to change for each assignment and may have to vary for a couple students who may need a couple adaptations.

Ways to Improve Mind-Mapping

    Knowing different ways to improve instruction is only useful when a person is fully aware how to use it as well as how to encourage others to improve their skills.  Below are some tips on how to make the most out of your mind-mapping experience and to make it the most beneficial to you.  I was also wondering does anyone have any other ideas that could work?

Improving your Mind Maps

Once you understand how to make notes in the Mind Map format, you can develop your own conventions to take them further. The following suggestions may help to increase their effectiveness:

• Use single words or simple phrases for information: Most words in normal writing are padding: They convey facts in the correct context, and in a format that is pleasant to read. In your own Mind Maps, single strong words and meaningful phrases can convey the same meaning more potently. Excess words just clutter the Mind Map.
  
  
• Print words: Joined up or indistinct writing can be more difficult to read.
  
  
• Use color to separate different ideas: This will help you to separate ideas where necessary. It also makes your Mind Map easier to remember. Color also helps to show the organization of the subject.
  
  
• Use symbols and images: Where a symbol or picture means something to you, use it. Pictures can help you to remember information more effectively than words.
  
  

• Using cross-linkages: Information in one part of the Mind Map may relate to another part. Here you can draw in lines to show the cross-linkages. This helps you to see how one part of the subject connects with another.

I got this information from the following link:  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

A website that gives an overview of my topic

The topic I decided to do my blog about is concept mapping/mind-mapping software.

I stumbled upon this one website that looks specifically into a mind-mapping software.  This website is split up in a couple of different ways that allows for viewers to see how this software can be effective.  For instance, there are tabs labeled; educators, parents, business, and personal life, so no matter what your job is this website explains how this software can be beneficial to you or the people around you.

               Something I found really useful on this website is that it gives the viewer multiple ideas and lessons where this software has been used and was effective.  Often I feel that educators may be presented with software, or types of technology, but unless they fully know how this product can be used they probably won’t use it.

            The benefits of looking through this website are endless because it gives you additional readings that go along with this idea as well as an online community you can sign up for that allows you to collaborate with others online about how to use concept mapping with the topic you are working on or assisting others who may need some advice.  I hope that you all find this website as beneficial as I did and I’m sure you will also see how you could spend a long time on this website looking through all the content and examples which are provided.     

** The link to this website is: http://www.inspiration.com/