When you use SpicyNodes for concept mapping, it feels right. That’s by design. It feels natural because the linked nodes largely mimic the way the brain works.
But while linking prior knowledge to form new connections seems intuitive, this process wasn’t acknowledged until the mid-20th century, when cognitive behavioral psychologist Edward Tolman coined the term “cognitive mapping” in a 1948 paper published in The Psychological Review.
Map of science, in the style of a tube map, by Crispian Jago. August 2010.
Seeking to convey 500 years of science, Crispian Jago got inspired to follow the style of the iconic London Tube Map.
The map primarily includes modern scientists who have made significant advances to our understanding of the world, however I have also included many present day scientists who fuel a passion for, and advances in, science through communication and science popularisation.
Check out Crispian’s full map in his blog. And more after the jump…
The online comic xkcd looks at typical university web site:
Don’t let this classic problem happen to your site! With SpicyNodes, your visitors can quickly click to the information they need. And when you design your nodes, make sure the first orbit of nodes is the information people really want. After the jump, is another diagram of a “typical” law firm site.
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David M. Hillis, Derrick Zwickl, and Robin Gutell, at University of Texas created an amazing tree of life, which is displayed radially. We learned of this via PZ Myers, a biologist, associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris, and blogger — who recently wrote about their Radial tree of life because he uses their amazing graphic in his talks and presentations.
This tree is from an analysis of small subunit rRNA sequences sampled from about 3,000 species from throughout the Tree of Life.
“In addition to creating a basic course outline, you can also use it to outline the actual design elements of a course, collecting ideas, fonts, images, and videos, using it to create a radial storyboard….You can get your learners hooked on using mindmaps with SpicyNodes. There’s essentially no learning curve required and it’s a great way to encourage learners to brainstorm and organize their thoughts and resources at the same time….Because of the radial nature of SpicyNodes, it’s also an interesting storytelling tool. For example, you can use it to create flash fiction, using each node to tell a story from a different point of view.”
SpicyNodes soars to new heights when combined with other web services. These web services could be features of your own site, or another site, and the resulting “mashup” is more than the sum of its parts. Check out a demonstration mashup of SpicyNodes with Google Maps. It shows you how SpicyNodes can control another system, and vice versa.
How can you use SpicyNodes on your site to make something fresh?
