School education is an important stage in human development, and the use of effective tools is extremely important here. The intellect is a system of images that are perceived as a complex, used in conjunction with other knowledge and events. It is not only sight, hearing or sense organs. There is intuition, the subconscious, a lot of inexplicable patterns.
However, in order to obtain high-quality knowledge, learn how to quickly and correctly apply it, it is not necessary to deeply understand the "device" of natural intelligence and the principles of building knowledge and connections between them. In any field of education and fields of knowledge, it is enough to use simple mind map ideas to get a great complex result.
The history of the method and its essence
Sometimes it is believed that the ideas of mind maps come from the field of brainstorming, psychoanalysis and other complex algorithms for the development of intelligence for gifted children,development of abilities to solve specific or non-standard tasks.
Everything is much simpler - this is the usual school method for effectively acquiring knowledge, elements of which are historically used in kindergarten and by parents every day. It's just that at school, behind the phrase "use of mind maps" is a specific methodological process. Frequently discussed, updated, and developed over the course of all learning activities. It is a great tool in school education.
You can remember the British Tony Buzan, the Pole Alfred Korzybski or, in general, turn to the ancient philosophers and sages: Porfiry, Aristotle, Raymond Lull, the essence of this will not change. This is the same mind map that we can see examples of its application everywhere and at all times.
There is no such person who would not write down something in order to systematize or store important information. There is no such field of application in which technological process cards, checklists, wall posters and other information products containing systematized information linked in meaning to other information objects would not be produced.
School and business: different areas, same cards
Mind maps for education and business are not too different. In the first case they teach, in the second they work. But what is it to teach and work, both in the first and in the second case are relative concepts.
The use of mind maps in the educational process can be directed to:
- for memory training;
- for developmentabilities to analyze and systematize information;
- scheduling;
- graphic drawing up an algorithm of actions;
- project presentation.
There are many ideas in the school, it is important that the mapping process is fun, practical and does not give students time to be distracted by other things. The accuracy and colorfulness of the process of compiling each map is important, the relationships between the maps, the sequence of their location and the logic of decision making are important.
The use of mind maps in business is focused on the goals of its optimization, accounting and control of primary documents in accounting or in production, financial control, analysis and decision-making on the actions of competitors and other issues.
Both areas are radically different, but the creation of mind maps is absolutely identical. Simple conditions must be observed:
- the card should contain a minimum of information;
- the card must be executed neatly, accurately and colorfully;
- relationships with other cards are clearly indicated;
A card is not necessarily a separate piece of paper: all cards can be displayed on one sheet of paper at once with all graphic links that reflect the meaning.
The main condition when learning or working using mind maps: you should not use an eraser, that is, never erase anything! If something goes wrong, you need to clean everything up and do not immediately throw out the outdated version, it will almost always give a new idea.
All thesesimple actions will reduce the content of each card, improve relationships, simplify the solution.
Classical programming
In the era of large computers that occupied a quarter of a football field, and as a result of their work, so much heat was generated that it was possible to heat a small apartment building, neither the design of the computers themselves nor their programming could do without cards.
This is not directly related to the school version of mind maps, but the experience of those times is of significant interest.
In fact, the development of a particular technique is an attempt to teach the ability to choose the goal and procedure for achieving the desired result. A person is programming every minute, but does not attach any importance to it.
Using maps allows you to understand how and what happens:
- visual;
- graphically;
- semantically.
Natural, unconsciously executed and habitual algorithms turn into visible elements, the content of which must be clearly defined, semantic connections built and placed on the plane in a certain sequence.
Object programming
There are no sequences here, but there are real objects that have a very specific meaning and the ability to interact with other objects.
Here, each mind map=examples of real objects. It is not at all difficult to learn how to describe a real object graphically, indicate its properties and ways of interacting withother objects.
The problem and the essence here are radically different in that the general logic is based on the "habitat" environment of many objects. The environment is its own system of mind maps, and each object is a separate structure. The environment begins to function, the educational or real business process is gaining momentum, but it is difficult to say which and when the real object will work. Everything is determined by the current situation.
Mind maps, recursion language
The level of the environment for the existence of objects and the objects themselves - excellent knowledge, practical skills to systematize information, optimize knowledge and develop intelligence.
But where one apple falls, there may be an apple tree. There may be more than one window on the monitor screen, but several. When communicating on the Web, it is difficult to limit yourself to a conversation in the same style with a single interlocutor and avoid the influence of other programs.
Each real system of objects, each card can work more than once, and it is not at all necessary that it "turns" to another card. It can refer to itself and get back its own result. A card can do this many times.
The level of thinking when the author of mind maps gives them the right to recurse is the highest level of thinking. To the simple conditions for constructing maps outlined above, a complex and important condition is added: any mind map must be a complete, full-featured product that can be referred to without lossinformation, violation of integrity and performance.
Effectiveness of maps for acquiring and using knowledge
Starting with simple mind maps that implement elementary data categories and relationships between them:
- through the identification of independent objects operating in the environment;
- to recursion, that is, the ability to create their own kind and interact with the environment and other objects;
- even when an object of unknown nature and destination appears.
These three positions are enough to solve almost any problem.
The experience of well-known developers of mind map methods is certainly important. You should use the works of the founders and well-known theoretical researchers, but you should not stop there.
Practice shows that the effectiveness of mind maps in education and business is beyond doubt: any attempt to systematize information and identify all semantic relationships is the success of any business in itself. But you should never stop there. The world is dynamic, everything is constantly changing, you can't do without fully functional objects with recursion.
