Always on the hunt to find software that unlocks dyslexic attainment at school or university, John Hicks reviews the latest version of MindMeister mind mapping software.
If you regularly follow the Studying With Dyslexia Blog, then you will know that I absolutely love mind mapping software.
Mind mapping software is a wonderfully visual way of sorting out information and preparing oneself for writing lengthy texts such as writing essays and reports.
Often referred to as ‘spider diagrams’, ‘mind maps’, ‘brain storms’ and probably lots of other names, the act of mind mapping often plays to the strengths of dyslexic thinkers who exhibit a natural level of skill in visual processing.
The trouble with writing essays for many dyslexic brains is that just sitting down and writing a linear piece of text is overwhelming, full of anxiety and the art of being organised and managing time is a challenge in the face of deadlines.
Most of the time these challenges are because students often feel that they need to work in a conventional way to express learning that can seriously put them on the back foot if dyslexic.
In the video below, I take a look at MindMeister, software that helps to manipulate and organise information using the medium of mind mapping. It is not the only bit of software out there that offers this kind of ability but it is fun to use and does the job of converting mind maps into word documents aka essays.
Some thoughts about MindMeister.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing with this software. It’s customisable so as to make it visually engaging and comfortable to use and it converts my mind maps into Microsoft Word documents very easily.
I found a couple of minor annoying elements in that my text notes do not, by default, get exported into Word unless I change it in the settings and this needs to be changed every time I export. Equally, I don’t want the MindMeister branding being a default setting too, especially if I am paying monthly to use the software. The branding then gets put into my Word documents in the header and whilst this is easy to delete post export, it is not helpful. So this means I have to remember to turn it off which is easy but upon each export, there are two extra mouse clicks I have to remember to do before I export in order to get my text notes exported AND remove the branding in the resultant Word document.
As I say these are really minor annoyances, but for students with neurodiversity it can be distracting and breaks concentration on a task that is difficult enough to maintain concentration with.
What I really liked about MindMeister.
What I really liked about the software was that it is browser based and so I can access my work on any device. I love that I don’t have to use the mouse half the time to populate my mind map and so can keep using the keyboard shortcut keys. This helps to maintain concentration.
MindMeister gives me the ability to use internet links and pictures which makes mind mapping really useful when working on projects and essays.
The huge plus for me is that it is easy to learn how to use. Mostly it is very intuitive and it is fun to use.
MindMeister does have some limited time / project management tools available that are further unlocked if using the software with the sister product MeisterTasks. Other packages available such as MindView has these already available with the license and I would really like to see students get access to these features as a part of the DSA package. They are really powerful and very thoughtfully laid out, but depending upon the subscription provided the student may or may not be able to use them. It would be useful for students to gain full access as then they would be able to unlock time and project management benefits that could further help with organisation and revision tasks etc.
Would I continue to use MindMeister?
OK, I am not a student, but I do do a lot of writing for articles. I need the writing flow to be positive and fun in order to engage me. I am still a new user to MindMeister, but on the whole, I am absolutely loving using the software despite some of the minor annoyances that I have mentioned and so, for now, at least, I think that I will continue to explore the software and use it as my go to mind mapping software and I wouldn’t have any hesitation in recommending it.
What are your thoughts about it?
I would really like to know what you think about the software. You can get free access to try it out on their website at https://www.mindmeister.com. If you try it out, do drop me a line and let me know what you think.