Representing ideas with symbols that are connected into a map helps teachers and students understand relationships among divergent concepts. Maps created in mapping software such as Inspiration make mental statements about how ideas form complex systems. When ideas appear on paper or a computer screen, we can play with connections and look for relationships. We can discover more complex connections and new meaning. As teachers we can enhance instruction by using concept maps for curriculum mapping, getting diverse groups to work together, organizing a portfolio, teaching or creating a plan.
Students can use concept maps for generating ideas, organizing thought, and reflection.
For groups, concept maps can provide a focus for the group's effort, encourage conversation, and support the evolution of ideas. With Inspiration 6, you can create hyperlinks to connect to resources on the World Wide Web. You can simply type a Web address to create a hyperlink or you can assign a Web address to selected text using the Internet command on the Utility menu. Clicking on an active hyperlink starts your browser and opens the Web address. When you export an Inspiration document to HTML, hyperlinks are also active in the exported file.