Spicy Nodes is a concept mapping tool that can be used in many different ways. The home site offers suggestions for educators interested in using it as an instructional tool. Basic membership is free. The tool showcases relationships among details of a concept, requiring the user to work with an “economy” of words to communicate the essence of an idea. These nuggets of information take the reader on a synergistic journey, exploring connections among key ideas.
For this week’s blog post around Identity, Team Tiger looked for those nuggets of information nestled in the text that spoke to each of us about identity. We chose several to reflect upon and have shared those with you in this Spicy Node presentation. We hope that it creates a storyline for you about identity, which may, or may not, leave you with the same message that was intended by the Tigers. After all, we each process text in our own way based on all of our life experiences that have influenced our identities.
For the best view, begin by choosing “full screen” (2nd icon from the left) and, because it is a large presentation, it might be best to adjust the “overall zoom level” to 1-2 bars (the small round magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen). Then choose the arrow pointing right to begin the show. Be sure to give the Spicy Nodes time to load. Enjoy! TT
Note: If one node is covering the text of another node that you are attempting to read, simply run your mouse over the node (don’t click on it) and the node will be moved to the front for easy reading.
Photos credits: discoveringidentity.com, nevegabem.com, blog.virtuallogistics.ca, crayon2paperier.deviantart.com, colourbox,com, iscb.org.
DANIEL JOSEPH MENDENHALL says
I think concept maps are a really great tool for the classroom. It allows one to chart the learning they have done and the connections that they have made between concepts. It is an artifact that you can come back to, edit, connect to other concept maps. I think this section of the Wenger reading really was conducive to organizing a concept map with Wenger organizing his argument by themes. I also liked that he related these themes closely to the themes of practice. It would be nice to have a concept map for all three concepts (identity, community and design). Does Spicy Nodes allow you to choose the animation that goes along with the presentation? Can you also draw static concept maps using this program? Animations that involve text are sometimes hard for my brain to process. Thank you for exposing me to this tool.
MJ says
I’ve only explored the free subscription for Spicy Nodes, but it’s possible that for a little cash, you can probably do much cooler things. I really like the idea of having to put your reflection into succinct nuggets of information. It forces you to think in ways that you typically don’t require of yourself. I’m interested in using it with my interns and their students. I haven’t figured out exactly what it would look like for them, but I think there must be a way to make it useful for learning.
JULIE FREAR SCHAPPE says
Visuals are a great way to reconsider relationships. I went to Spicy Nodes and played around a bit. It’s easy to use – I quickly created a multi-node display. However, one thing struck me, and I think it’s relevant to communities of practice as well as Spicy Node and other forms of web-based technology. The public nature of the web alters what had been considered ‘practice’ space in the past. Now all is open for viewing even in rough stages. Two particular communities of practice are likely to have some measure of difficulty with this. The first are individuals working on unpublished research (social science research and pre-patent research across disciplines). Also, there are restrictions regarding making particular aspects of grant work open to the public. The second community involves vulnerable populations – minor aged learners. The free access is wonderful. However, are we culturally equipped to use it? Or does the cultural/ethical practice exist that would prompt commercial producers to create private free spaces?