MindMeister Final Post

My final thoughts of MindMeister as a communication tool is that it is a great way to start a paper for an outline. I know it could also be used to create maps for presentations to show different ideas, but I never used it as that because I only had three maps. MindMeister was allowing free trial periods of their other packages and I should of taken advantage of that, but I figured there would be some sort of catch to it. I would recommend this tool to anyone that has alot of decision making to do since it is a great tool for brainstorming and getting together with a group online that might not be able to meet and they could all have an input to the idea.

MindMeister Post #5

I am on the Analysis of MindMeister section of my paper. I really think MindMeister is a great tool to use for communication. I remember in grade school when we would have to make outlines for our papers using this sheet of paper with an umbrella drawn on it and it would have boxes hanging from it for different points to have in our paper. What I am trying to say is now that technology is more relevant in our lives as a whole it would be smart to have younger students use a tool like MindMeister to start writing papers because I feel like when we get older an outline becomes a good backbone for starting a paper, but many people just skip right into writing the paper. MindMeister is easy enough to use where younger students could figure out what they are doing. The cognitive theory of multimedia learning is about the changing pace of how we learn and MindMeister could be that tool to help visual learners see different maps or even create maps that could help them study better. The social cognitive theory is based on how we as people acquire and maintain behavioral patterns. With many people especially the younger generations that are using the internet today, MindMeister could be a good tool that would keep them interested in learning. We are always online so why not keep the learning online as well. Bloom's Taxonomy is also another theory based on different types of learning: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. In each of these different types of learning is a set of skills needed to be able to learn. MindMeister can be a good tool for gaining these skills as we can use the tool to understand a concept and remember it, then before we can apply the concept we must understand it, before we analyze it we must be able to apply it, before we can evaluate its impact we must have analyzed it, before we can create we must have remembered, understood, applied, analyzed and evaluated. MindMeister as a whole is about brainstorming ideas and putting meaning behind it, so MindMeister is a learning tool that can be used to remember the concept, understand it, apply it, analyze it and evaluate it.

MindMeister Post #4

Today I looked more into how MindMeister was created and how it has evolved since then. It was founded by MeisterLabs GmbH in 2007. MeisterLabs GmbH was created by Till Vollmer and Michael Hollauf. MindMeister allows for users to have three free maps but then charges for additional maps. It has evolved overtime by staying current with technology as they have created an app for smartphones so busy, on-the-go people can stay on their maps wherever they are. They also have a Twitter account to update users on exclusive deals. There are many benefits of MindMeister as it allows for brainstorming, note taking, able to track your changes, users can always stay connected and connect with other users, and it is user friendly.

MindMeister Post #3

Today I needed to create an outline for a paper that is due for a final in one of my classes. I used MindMeister just like we did for our outline in this class because it was easy and a more unique way to turn in an outline. When I was creating my new outline for my other class I tried to think of the different theories I had picked out and the different kind of learning MindMeister uses because it is visual and this sometimes teaches people at a better level. I have been looking through different sources to find definitions for the three key terms I picked for my paper. There are so many sources out there, but I have decided to use cognitive theory of multimedia learning, social cognitive theory, and route 21 as my key terms.

Final Paper - MindMeister Post #2

For my paper I have been looking into more information about MindMeister. MindMeister was founded in 2007 by Till Vollmer and Michael Hollauf. MindMeister was created for users to be able to visualize their thinking by using mind map software. There are two different versions of MindMeister. One for users that is free and one that has a subscription fee ranging from 4 to 14 dollars depending on which subscription the user chooses from. They could choose between personal, pro and business each having different features useful to the user. MindMeister has won three different awards: Red Herring Europe 2008 Winner Top 100 Tech Startups, AASL Website Awards Best Web Site for Teaching and Learning and Innovation Award 2008 Best Product in the Category Web 2.0. There are many features of MindMeister that make it such a great tool to use for school or even teaching. One feature is the ability to share and collaborate. Users are able to share their maps by email inviting users or just sharing the direct link. Another feature is the history playback which allows for the user to see the changed history throughout the project even allowing the undoing of the whole project. MindMeister also allows for access anywhere, anytime as they can access their maps through any mobile or portable device. It is also very safe, easy and secure to use as the interface is self explanatory and they use security encryption, tier-III hosting and 24/7 monitoring.

Final Paper - MindMeister #1

For my final paper in Communication and Technology I have chosen the topic MindMeister. I thought this tool would benefit me the most as the semester is coming to an end and I have three papers and one project due all within the next couple weeks. MindMeister will assist me with my outlines of each as the organization and structure of the tool is beneficial in making sure I get each topic covered in my papers or project. Online learning is becoming more and more popular as it is time saving and people are more involved in computers than ever. E-learning is becoming more beneficial to students now as they find sources online, take notes with computers and learn through teachers using computer technology.

E-Learning

1.       How does the tool relate to the topic of the week?

The topic of the week was E-learning. The tool we used that was related to the topic of the week was
MindMeister. MindMeister is a type of social learning environment as users can
create maps/brainstorming ideas of different topics and then can be shared with
other users. When connected to other users you can limit them to a read or edit
function this way if you are working in a group it is easy to be connected and
work on the same map together.

2.       What function does the tool serve?

MindMeister serves many tools as it is a structured learning
tool that gives users organization and structure in their maps. Maps are a web
of information that is centered around one topic and webbed out to more
specific topics as it can be used for brainstorming, paper outlines,
presentations and that is just a few. Another useful function is the option of
sharing the map to collaborate with others in a group or even share with the
public. It can be useful for group projects as everyone can go into the map and
edit information as everyone in the group can see other people’s edits instead
of emailing a project around that could get confusing. 

3.       What did you find most interesting about the
tool?

The thing I found most interesting about the tool was the option
of allowing other people into the map to let them edit the information on the
map. I know Google Docs is like this, but MindMeister seemed like more of an
option to use for presentations and outlines as it is simple and connects main
points together. I liked that it also put other users edits in a different
color that way you could actually see where they edited the map.

4.       What did you find most challenging?

I thought the tool was very easy to use. I first had an issue
figuring out how to add on branches, but the boys explained that and all was
fine. The tool was self explanatory as everything was laid out and labeled, so
it was easy to figure out how to change font size, color, add pictures and even
adding users to your map was easy.

5.       How does the tool improve or complicate communication?

I think this tool definitely improves communication as even if
one user is using it it shows how organized they are, and if a group is using
it MindMeister allows for collaboration between the group. If the group is too
busy to meet in person or if they don’t live close to each other this option
really helps as they can collaborate together and see who has what ideas as
their edits are in a different color.

6.       What is your critique of your experience?

Overall I really liked MindMeister. I think it is a good way to
stay organized for anyone that has to write papers or do projects. The tool was
easy to use and not overly complicated which is what users want. I am going to
use MindMeister for the final paper topic as I have this paper along with two
other papers due within the next few weeks and this tool will really help me
organize my papers.

Organizations and E-commerce

1.       How does the tool relate to the topic of the week?

This week’s topic was organizations and e-commerce. Buying and selling products on the internet and other computer networks has become increasingly popular and that’s what e-commerce is all about. The social media tool we used this week was Flickr. Flickr is for people and companies to manage photos and videos of their company to advertise themselves and products. This is a great way for people to get out there because it also offers tags for people to have an easier search when searching their product.

2.       What function does the tool serve?

Flickr enables people, organizations and businesses to be able to create a page that allows them to post videos and pictures of what they are trying to market or share with other people on Flickr or other social media sites. Flickr is free, but businesses or organizations that want to put up more pictures to serve their advertising need can pay about ten dollars per quarter which is not that much as it will give feedback about how many visitors have visited your page or searched your criteria.

3.       What did you find most interesting about the tool?

The thing I found most interesting about the tool was the fact that you could tag words or the company name to the photo and when those certain words are searched by customers or other businesses your photos or videos would show up. It reminded me of Twitter with the hash tags as those can be searched on twitter whatever is behind the hash tag.

4.       What did you find most challenging?

The most challenging part for me was that I wanted to just use it as a normal person, not a company. I really like posting pictures on Facebook and I thought it would be unique if they spread it to make it just for users too as I think it could increase customer market for companies that are already using Flickr. I didn’t really like that it was just for companies and organizations.

5.       How does the tool improve or complicate communication?

I thought it mostly improved communication as customers and other businesses can see what you have to offer through photos while also having the option to comment on the picture. I also thought it was an advantage to improve communication with the option of tagging the photo with key words for an easier search option.

6.       What is your critique of your experience?

Overall if I had a business I would definitely get a Flickr as I feel it can really show who a company is by the photos they put up to show their products and workers. It really helps that businesses can tag their photos with their company name along with other words about their company that will stick out to the customer when they search them and find the company and they will remember that word they searched along with the company.

Online Gaming

1.       How does the tool relate to the topic of the week?

The topic of the week is online gaming.  The tool we used to experience online gaming was Dungeon Blitz. It allowed the gamer to chat with other players while playing alone or you could invite people to join your group to play with you. It relates to the topic of the week as it involves interaction between players.

2.       What function does the tool serve?

This tool serves its users by allowing them to interact with each other to solve the games challenges together and fight off the different monsters. While doing all this they can join forces and fight together, and be able to chat with them about the game.

3.       What did you find most interesting about the tool?

The thing I found most interesting about Dungeon Blitz was that I am normally not into fighting games, but it made it more interesting when they actually told you what to do unlike other games these days like Halo or COD where it’s just walking around and shooting people. Time went by really fast when I was playing which can be a bad thing, but it means that I liked it.

4.       What did you find most challenging?

The most challenging thing for me was that I kept getting lost. I would go to the “home” and then when I tried to leave I couldn’t figure out how to get back so I would just close the game and restart it. Also when Kelly and I were trying to find each other on the game to invite each other to be a part of our group we could never see each other online so that was kind of confusing as we would both be in the same spot and never see each other.

5.       How does the tool improve or complicate communication?

I think the tool would improve communication within the game as gamers could talk to each other instantly and let them know about different enemies ahead or just different secrets of the game a new user would not know about. I wish it would notify you better though when you had users talking directly to you as it would only be seen in the bottom right corner in a small box. It also could complicate communication as anyone could chat in there and sometimes I would not know what they were talking about.

6.       What is your critique of your experience?

Overall I enjoyed playing the game, but I think I liked playing it more alone than with a group as I invited someone to be a part of mine and I feel like he doesn’t even do anything but follow me around. Also I think players should be notified more clearly if someone is instant messaging you because the box for chat is so small I wasn’t really paying attention to it when I was battling.

Second Life

1.       How does the tool relate to the topic of the week?

The tool we used this week was Second Life. It relates to our topic of the week (cyber culture/virtual communities) as a cyber culture is a culture that has emerged or is emerging from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment, and business, and a virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific social media in order to pursue mutual interests. Second Life allows anyone to sign up and interact with individuals who have common interests.

2.       What function does the tool serve?

This tool serves as a virtual community as it is a social network that allows people to interact with each other whether they have mutual interests or not. There are many different world destinations people can enter to find people with mutual interests or just people to talk to.

3.       What did you find most interesting about the tool?

I thought the most interesting part of the tool was changing the avatar into whatever you wanted to be. There were so many different options between humans, animals, vampires, or robots then you could actually go into the different destinations and retrieve free clothes to change your avatars appearance to how ever you want it to be.

4.       What did you find most challenging?

The thing I found most challenging about Second Life was how to fit in with all the older users. Everyone in each destination seemed to know what they were doing and it was hard to follow along if there were set rules for each destination as sometimes they would kick you out if you didn’t belong. Some destinations required certain clothing as others seemed to just be people that have already met on Second Life that did not want you to be a part of their group.

5.       How does the tool improve or complicate communication?

I think this tool complicates and improves communication depending on who you are talking to in Second Life as some people want to help new users and others completely ignore them. It helps improve communication in that universities are looking into using Second Life to teach and in the future I think it could also become a great marketing tool as they have lots of space to put advertisements. I think it complicates communication in that people do have their own lingo on Second Life with words like rezzing and slurl. It also can be all anonymous as people can make their avatar actually look like themselves (which is never exactly alike) or they can choose to be a vampire, animal or robot.

6.       What is your critique of your experience?

I thought using Second Life was fun, but it just seems like you need to be really into it to know what you’re doing and who to talk to, to make the experience worthwhile as not many of us had people come forward and talk to us instead we had to go talk to them. I am more into Sims where you are able to control mostly everyone in the game. It was fun, but I would not use it daily.

Interpersonal

1.       How does the tool relate to the topic of the week?

The topic of the week is interpersonal. We used the tool meetup.com to relate to the topic of the week. Meetup.com is a site used to create interest groups for people in the local area to meet and participate in something they are all interested in. Meetup.com is related to interpersonal as internet interpersonal relationships are intimate, social/professional relationships brought together over the internet.

2.       What function does the tool serve?

This tool allows people to form local community groups online that relate to their interests then meet up in a face to face setting to meet with people who have the same interests as them. There are many different groups just in the Davenport area that are for fun, hobbies, or professional meetings.

3.       What did you find most interesting about the tool?

I thought this tool was interesting in that anyone can join the groups and just meet up with everyone and do something they enjoy with others who enjoy it. It is nice that its just not an online social media site. People actually get to meet one another face to face unlike the other interpersonal site we learned about.

4.       What did you find most challenging?

I thought the site was pretty easy to understand. It was easy to sign up as all you had to do was click the sign in through facebook button on the group you wanted to join. The only challenging thing was I could not find many sport and recreation groups in the Quad Cities which was surprising.

5.       How does the tool improve or complicate communication?

I think this tool improves communication as people have to be organized and dedicated to going to the meetings or else you can be kicked out of the group. Also it is not only online communication it is face to face communication with people in the area which can help with networking skills. The more people you know the more they can help you with specific things like jobs.

6.       What is your critique of your experience?

I thought it was a good way to meet people with the same interests as you. I think I would use this if I was new to the area as I saw quite a few people in the Davenport meet up site were doing, but I don’t think I would want to sign up for one of these groups by myself. I would make sure to bring a few of my friends along with me if I went to one of the events.

Blogging

1.       Blogging allows for individuals to openly express themselves whether it’s under their real name or alias. Blogging is for professionalism, creativity, personal interests, information or anything as people can freely state their opinion on these topics. Blogging allows for people to be more honest as they feel they won’t be judged for what they say.

2.       Blogging allows for people to be more open about their opinions either as themselves or under an alias name. People can share anything they want with whomever they want. Individuals can use it as a way to vent or to have fun. It is anything you want it to be and that’s why so many people use them today.

3.       The thing I found most interesting was customizing my blog. I liked that we can pick the background and put widgets on our blog that display who we are. It was fun to try and find the perfect template to show what we like.

4.       I thought the most challenging thing was figuring out how to display everything how you want it. I had troubles downloading different templates and getting them to fit on my blog. Everyone I downloaded had some kind of issue with it either it took away links I needed to get to the home site or it had additional things on it that did not need to be there for me.

5.       I think a blog improves communication by letting people speak their mind. They can be more honest and communicate with people that have the same interests. I also think there are disadvantages to blogs as they are distancing us from offline communication. More and more people are losing their face to face communication skills as we develop new technologies.

6.       I don’t think blogging is something I would be really into unless I had a blog about a personal hobby. I just am not into sharing everything I do on the internet. I know there are ways to make it private, but it just seems like there is always a loop in people finding you on the internet. I really liked making my blog with my own design, but I’m just not that into posting a lot of personal information.