Cool Tool #5 - SimpleMind

Hello hello again! For my final Cool Tool Review, I have chosen the mind mapping application, SimpleMind. The site claims that SimpleMind, "is a tool for the brain that captures the thinking that goes on inside your head.... mapping helps you think, collect knowledge, remember and create ideas. Most likely it will make you a better thinker." Better thinker?! Bold claims from a mind mapping application, but I'm willing to bite. When I think of mind mapping, I think of brainstorming activities and concept maps, very useful activities for any classroom environment. Many times, these things can be done easily using paper, posters, markers, or as a group together on the wipe board / chalk board. I do think that there is some intrinsic value in brainstorming with physical, tactile materials. I've seen that many TV shows, musicians and creative teams use tactile materials and spaces for their brainstorming before bringing their ideas to digital media. 

That being said, I do think that there is unique potential in bringing mind maps to the digital realm. Digitizing the brainstorming process increases the potential for ideas to be shared and collaborated on across large distances via the internet, which is super cool. To accomplish my goals as an educator, I am looking for a brainstorming application that is free, accessible, easy to use and easy to port onto other devices. I want an application that can easily associate words, pictures, colors titles and phrases in a map like diagram that is simple to navigate. So let's see how SimpleMind lives up to my expectations! 

Unfortunately, this thing is not free. I understand people gotta make money for their creations, but from a practicality standpoint, I'm gonna need something that my students can download and use on their own devices. The version of SimpleMind for iPad and iPhone, which has limited functionality, is free, but the full versions for PC and Mac will cost money to register for. I am a little disappointed because this means that my students will not be able to easily access the application from home. I am also discouraged because it looks as if SimpleMind will cost a good amount of money if I want to have this program installed on all of the computers in my school's computer lab.

Fortunately for the sake of this review, there is a 30 day free trial for the PC version, so I boot it up and see what the program is all about.

Things are looking very plain upon start up, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As an artist, I love a blank canvas! They start you off with a bubble that will be your "central idea," while all other ideas are supposed to sprout off from there. For the sake of my example, I will attempt to make a mind map about healthy athletic practices. After a few minutes of playing around, I was able to successfully create a mind map with colors, pictures and hyperlinks that can easily be exported and shared.  

I was pleased with the program's ability to simply integrate colors and pictures into a coherent mind map. There are some restrictions as to where each bubble can move while creating the map, which is simultaneously frustrating and helpful. No drag and drop functionality means that the map is less less likely to get disoriented by a student playing around. On the other hand, I don't like the constraint on student creativity. At the end of the day, I'm at peace with the way that this works out. 

I am a little discouraged by the fact that each option for the bubbles needs to be accessed with a small pop-out menu. Because of this, the program does not feel easy to use for younger children, but could be something that older, high school aged, students could learn and create with. 

What we have here is a mind map tool that is functional, but not spectacular. For a subscription price, I would hope that the editing tools would be more user friendly, and that there would be more options available for people to be creative with their mind maps. This tool does work, however, and I could see it being a useful tool for any teacher looking to create meaningful and practical visuals for brainstorming or sequencing activities!