Mapping made stylish and simple with MindMeister

I simply love this tool. I think it's even better than Bubbl.us...don't take me off your delicious bookmarks just yet (!)... MindMeister offers something a little different which Bubble.us, at least for the time being (see their blog for updates about the new version), does not.

These are the features I particularly love:

1. Work on your mind-maps off-line: with Google Gears off-line library, you can work on all your maps wherever you are. Although Bubbl.us maps can be added to even if off-line (as the main flash files have already loaded) you cannot save the work without going on-line again.
2. Add ideas to your maps on-the-fly: Insert ideas into your default mind map on MindMeister directly from your Mac Dashboard or Windows Sidebar.
3. Easy images into mind-map: Insert images from the default library, have MindMeister insert an image based on the key word of a node or just upload your own photos or illustrations - fantastic!

And many other tools...



Here is one mind-map that I made for a job interview a couple of days ago (got the job too!): Tom's Learning Journey. Just click the image on the left to see a larger version. There are many possibilities with this online tool; I have only used the basics!


The only catch, if you want to use the free version, is that you can only store 6 maps. Mind you, you can export your brilliant creations in various formats incl. .pdf or as an image so you could always get rid of a mind-map and keep creating new ones. It is rather cheap to upgrade though, take a look on the main site.

online mapping

This is a site I've been using for a while now and it works very well with students:

www.bubbl.us

The best thing about Bubbl.us is that you can collaborate with each other. After the students have got used to deleting each other's mind-maps it actually works rater well ; )