Using formatting alone for understanding!

This can be a powerful technique especially with visual learners who maybe are switched off by anything text heavy.

Create a mind map as a group or indivdually on a topic - I will use the example of a mind map on "Barriers to uptake of e-learning (ILT)"

Set the group some or all of the following tasks. The idea is to explore their undertanding of the issues by formating the map. This again can be used to promote higher order thinking, as well as helping structure an assignment.

1) Arrange the map so the most important issue is at the top and the least important at the bottom.

2) Think about the causes of the barriers, change the background colours for the branches, so that

*problems created by the institution have a blue background

*problems created by teaching staff have a green background

*problems created by students have a yellow background

3) Change the Border colour so that

*problems easy to change have a green border

*problems that are hard to change have a red border

*problems that are medium to change have an amber (yellow) border

4) Add the image of the pound sign to the problems that are very expensive to change

etc.

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