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TITLE
Popplet
LEARNING OBJECT
Collaborative mind mapping tool
WEBSITE OF THE PRODUCT
NAME OF AUTHOR(S)
Albert Lee, Philip Tiongson, Jared Schiffman
DATE OF PRODUCTION
1st November 2009
TYPE OF PRODUCT
Web Site/Portal, Mobile Apps
SUBJECT TAUGHT
Biology
LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE
Medium
TARGET GROUP AGE
14 – 16 years old
TUTORIAL SUPPORT
Yes
DESCRIPTION
Popplet is a mind-mapping application which also contains a graphic organizer element that allows students to learn visually. Students are clearly able to see the links and relationships within a particular topic. Popplet is similar to the software Prezi, where you can have many “popples” (windows of information) in the home page like that of a mind-map. You are then clearly able to see the links between the windows which all contain different pieces of information and the links that exist between them.
For example, while teaching my 2nd year group the structure of the heart and blood circulation, I was able to to put the Diagram of the Heart to the centre of my Popplet and make it the most obvious, while connecting other popples to it e.g the lungs, muscles, construction of arteries and veins. Students were able to see effectively how the Heart was responsible for so many functions in the human body. Moreover, on each Popple I was able to add links to videos and upload images to further enhance the teaching and learning experience. I found this software to be very teacher friendly.
For example, while teaching my 2nd year group the structure of the heart and blood circulation, I was able to to put the Diagram of the Heart to the centre of my Popplet and make it the most obvious, while connecting other popples to it e.g the lungs, muscles, construction of arteries and veins. Students were able to see effectively how the Heart was responsible for so many functions in the human body. Moreover, on each Popple I was able to add links to videos and upload images to further enhance the teaching and learning experience. I found this software to be very teacher friendly.
EXPERT'S COMMENT
It is also available for free online where you can set your own account. Because I use Google Classroom primarily as home software with my students, I enjoyed the “Share” feature. This allowed students to connect and interact with my popplet on their own ipads and tablets. This allowed me to create a popple with homework questions and activities which encouraged the students to independently discover more about the popplet and of course the topic itself. I would really recommend this application to schools.